Ethical Issues Related To Biotechnology
As novel biotechnology is developed and is beginning to blend with concepts once perceived to coincide with fiction, questions are being raised about the deciding factors that determine whether an idea is ethical. Being ethical means conforming to what society believes to be right and wrong conduct. For example, to follow morals in clinical trials, human subjects and their privacy must be protected if it is their will. Also, participants must be fully informed on the experiment and their role in it, as well as any potential side effects. Another ethical debate is whether new treatments should only be available to those who can afford it, which can be taken be some as meaning that the government cares the most about taking care of its wealthy citizens. Also, some perceive cloning research to be unethical because it is interfering with the way nature and evolution designed life to be created.
Gene therapy is an experimental method of treating disease that includes substituting a mutated gene with a healthy one, deactivating mutated genes, or introducing an original gene into the body. There are two types of it: Somatic cell therapy replaces genes in somatic cells, while the germline therapy replaces defective genes with healthy ones in reproductive cells.
Ethical issues related to the treatment include deciding which traits can be considered ‘normal’ and which are constituted a ‘disability’ or disorder as well as if a widespread use of gene therapy could cause society to be less accepting of people with differences. Another concern would be if the usage of gene therapy to enhance basic traits such as height, intelligence, and physical activity were allowed. Gene therapy would overall be very beneficial to society, although it could also have some negative effects. Humans have always been prone to disease, and although medicine has succeeded in treating most illnesses, genetic disorders remain an issue and this treatment could help cure people who possess them. These conditions could even be completely eradicated by germline, reproductive, therapy, which is a treatment that helps patients as well as their offspring.
Unfortunately, gene therapy could lead to an unbalance in standard of living between those who can afford it, and those who cannot, which could lead to a dystopian-type world where the power balance is completely skewed. Additionally, if used to a certain degree, the gene pool could be irreversibly damaged and lead to new, aberrant syndromes.
