The disadvantage of gene therapy is that, like any other medical procedure, it may not work. They express that although there is the possibility for disease treatments, there is also a chance for new diseases to affect a person who uses gene therapy. The most important factor in the development of gene therapy is the fact that, for genetic disorders, there is only one way of curing the disease replacing the defective gene with a healthy copy and therefore gene therapy is the only hope of finding cures for such disorders. Top 20 gene therapy pros and cons biology explorer. Basic gene therapy approaches usually involve adding something to a gene through a variety of vectors. Gene therapy for patients with this disorder is complicated by the. Gene therapy holds a lot of promise in the field of medicine. Side effects critics doubt the effectiveness of gene therapy because of the possible negative impact of using this technique.
Gene therapy promises to help diseased tissues and organs work properly by adding a corrected copy of a defective gene. Gene therapy does not rely on natural discoveries for advancement. The pros and cons of gene therapy show that some of these issues could. The advantage of gene therapy is that it provides an opportunity for affected individuals to lead a life that is normal. Doctors struggle with the ethical dilemma of gene therapy science, news the independent.
Over the years genetic disorders and generelated illness have been responsible for high mortality rates and reduced quality of life. The first gene therapy approved, however, was in the european union in 2012. Gene therapy pros and cons can be quite decisive on whether or not we should embrace gene therapy. Genetic testing of complex disorders such as epilepsy raise even more concerns in regards to. About 3% of the births in the united states involve a condition. Genes are basically nitrogenous based codes that encode secret information of all of the amino acid formation in the body. Many of todays medications are based on discoveries from nature. Alipogene tiparvovec, glyberarr, a recombinant adenoassociated virus raav product for lipoprotein lipase defi. Gene t herapy potential, pros, cons and ethics cogprints.
At the same time, there is growing public interest in the potential costs and benefits of applying the techniques of genetic modification to treating human illness and. People every day are born with birth defects that affect their genetic makeup. The experimental nature of these therapies means that the costs can be high to have them performed and many health insurance policies will not cover it because of the potential of failure. The bodys immune system might see the various viruses that. Gene therapy research papers are written for biology or science courses that focus on the pro and cons of gene therapy and the new research on the scientific. Research into gene therapy has been ongoing for decades now, and there is light at the end of the tunnel as gene therapy is associated with the following advantages. Gene therapy is involved in the replacement of a defective gene within a cells nucleus with the genetically healthy and functional gene. Gene therapy does not have a reliable delivery method.
This may create diseases that affect their quality of life, including shortening their expected life span. An overview of the history, applications, advantages, disadvantages and prospects of gene therapy. Pdf an overview of the history, applications, advantages. Genetic data and tools offer enormous potential benefits to humankind but raise significant societal. The article below looks at the gene therapy and pros and cons of this technology. Sickle cell disease results from a homozygous missense mutation in the. It offers the possibility of a positive medical outcome.