GENE THERAPY EXPERIMENTATION?

There is a fine line between what constitutes something as an experiment and a trial..Gene therapy falls right in the middle. Gene therapy uses genes to treat disease. Usually this is done by creating copies of broken genes or replacing genes that may be missing or defective with healthy versions.  The main difficulty with consent to gene therapy concerns is the high degree of technological sophistication of the technique.The patients that undergo gene therapy generally go in with no knowledge or understanding of what could happen if something were to go wrong . There is a big misconception that gene therapy is more successful than it actually is. There are many cases where it can be applied on, but it takes the consent from patients to be the experimental base. This includes cancer, neurological disorders, HIV and other diseases.

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 It is questionable to assume whether gene therapy being conducted on someone is a real therapy or an experiment being conducted by a doctor. Proper paperwork should be read and filled out before any therapy is conducted.

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Sources: 

Gene therapy. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Gene-Therapy#:~:text=Gene%20therapy%20is%20a%20technique,healthy%20version%20of%20that%20gene.

 

“Gene Therapy: Ethical Issues - Informed Consent.” JRank Articles, medicine.jrank.org/pages/2285/Gene-Therapy-Ethical-Issues-Informed-Consent.html

 

LeFebvre, Rob. “New Gene Therapy Technique Saves Boys Life by Growing New Skin.” Engadget, 28 Feb. 2020, www.engadget.com/2017-11-08-gene-therapy-technique-growing-new-skin.html.

 

Lowenstein, Pedro R. “Clinical trials in gene therapy: ethics of informed consent and the future of experimental medicine.” Current opinion in molecular therapeutics vol. 10,5 (2008): 428-30

 

“What Is Gene Therapy?” Facts, The Public Engagement Team at the Wellcome Genome Campus, 19 Dec. 2016, www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-gene-therapy.