The Promise of Gene Therapy and Cloning Order Instructions: Please read below for information concerning assignment. Support responses with examples and use APA formatting in the paper. You may access the school’s website by logging into:
https://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt
Please note that when you log into the website you must click launch class, and on the next screen click syllabus to view this week’s readings (week 5) and Academic Resources to access the school’s library. Please respond to both discussion questions. I have also included hints from the professor for each. Be sure to address each aspect of the question.
Question 1: The promise of gene therapy
Gene therapy is a major area of research for curing a variety of genetic diseases. a) Briefly describe the process of gene therapy. b) Give a specific and detailed example of how gene therapy may be used to solve problems associated with genetic disorders. c) Discuss the benefits and possible hazards of gene therapy to human health.
HINTS FROM PROFESSOR
I have tried to keep the last week’s questions straight forward and to the point. Again, the big problem tends to be short answers. Don’t short yourself in the last week. Take advantage of the nature of the question and give a good strong finish. Every point counts at this time of the session.
Here are links to a few sources to help you with this one:
What is gene therapy and how does it work?
Review of gene therapy
http://cogprints.org/3221/1/2002-2-1.pdf
Pros and Cons of gene therapy
http://www.macalester.edu/~montgomery/GeneTherapy.htm
Question 2: Possibilities and dangers of cloning
Cloning has been seen in the news and as a major topic of debate. a) Briefly describe the process of cloning. b) What might be the benefits of cloning? c) What are potential dangers or threats associated with the widespread use of cloning? d) Discuss the ethics of cloning in its various proposed forms and uses.
HINTS FROM PROFESSOR
I have tried to keep the last week’s questions straight forward and to the point. Again, the big problem tends to be short answers. Don’t short yourself in the last week. Take advantage of the nature of the question and give a good strong finish. Every points counts at this time of the session.
Here are links to a few sources to help you with this one:
Human cloning ethics
http://energyfanatics.com/2014/03/20/human-cloning-ethics-pros-cons/
Pros and Cons of human cloning
Pros and Cons of human cloning
http://healthresearchfunding.org/pros-cons-human-cloning/
The Promise of Gene Therapy and Cloning Sample Answer
Gene Therapy and Cloning
Introduction
Several advances have been made in the field of medicine in an attempt to provide the cure of certain inherited diseases and those that do not have cures. One such area is gene therapy that is done by inserting genes into patients DNA instead of surgery or the use of drugs. Gene therapy has been used extensively in cancers, viral infections and inherited disorders. The approaches used are replacement of mutant genes that are infectious with new ones and inactivating of the mutant genes with functional genes. On the other hand cloning is an area of medicine that biochemists have used to produce genetically identical organisms. Today, reproductive cloning is a very common process that has been fronted to produce genetic populations in many countries.
Gene therapy
The process of gene therapy has been advanced in the treatment of single gene defects such as cystic fibrosis and hemophilia where a more functional and corrective gene is inserted into the patients genetic material to cure the genetic disorder. The new gene is administered through vectors such as viruses that translocate into the damaged cell, attaches on host cell and transfer its genetic material (Ginn et al., 2013). This causes disruption of defective genes after taking over the cell. The attachment induces expression of new genes that alter RNA or DNA transcript used in protein synthesis and therefore correcting the disorder.
A specific example of a genetic disorder is Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (ADA-SCID) commonly called bubble boy disease. Children with this condition do not have an effective immune mechanisms in the body. They die from infections as their immune systems cannot fight the disease and require bone marrow transplant from matching donors. Research has helped reduce this condition through gene therapy when a gene called ADA is injected into their bone marrow and subsequent transplant of cells that are corrected genetically. These genes boost immune system by reconstituting it with minimal side effects. In this case gene therapy has helped reduce the mortality rate as a result of this disorder.
Although gene therapy is experimental and under research, it has helped reduce the prevalence of life threatening disorders such as cancers and Huntington’s disease reducing the need for drugs, surgery and radiation by replacing defective genes. Additionally, gene therapy has a great untapped therapeutic potential hence when advanced it has the potential to reduce the danger of exposure of mankind to pathogens due to new genes that are able to withstand these harmful agents of disease. However, it carries hazards when the new gene is delivered to the wrong cell it can cause health problems and other disorders. This is brought by errors in the process by the vector enzymes. Sometime these vectors such as viruses are perceived as foreign bodies and can spark an immune response that can be dangerous damaging the gene pool of the host.
Cloning
Ogura, Inoue & Wakayama (2013) point out that cloning creates copies of organisms by the use of genetic material of a somatic cell. The process of cloning starts with choosing of the host organism and vector to be used in cloning. The vector can be the plasmid vector of Escherichia coli bacteria strain. The vector DNA is prepared by treatment with an endonuclease enzyme that cleaves the part of DNA site where the foreign material will be inserted. The DNA is prepared and a recombinant DNA created with enzyme DNA ligase. This ensures joining together or ligation of the DNA mixtures that is now ready to be introduced into the host organism. The host organism takes up the recombinant DNA and undergo transformation to new organisms that are screened for desired inserts of DNA with good properties.
Cloning has served a great deal to produce new tissue and grafts for people suffering that are not at risk of rejection by the body’s immune system. Furthermore, cloning produces organisms with desired characteristics due to their genetic identities. Cloning has also served to reduce infertility in women due to somatic cells with female eggs that can be cloned in surrogate mothers to produce children. However, the danger of mutations by cloned cells lead to more genetic disorders and even rejection of grafts in organ transplant by the body’s immune system.
Ethical issues can arise from cloning. Religious views often contradict the science of cloning. Christians who believe that life starts at conception are usually at odds in trying to understand how molecular clones in surrogates conform to their religious beliefs in the bible that man is created by a supernatural being. Some may even argue that there is a chance that not all cloned children have the success rate that physicians have the moral obligation to always uphold. Additionally advocates against cloning see it as a threat towards human evolution therefore raising legal and individuality issues.
The Promise of Gene Therapy and Cloning Conclusion
Gene therapy remains one of the most promising areas of study for treatment of inherited disorders but it comes along with risks hence it is still under research to increase its effectiveness. Cloning on the other hand has gone a long way in creating genetically identical organisms with desirable traits with benefits such as the use of cloning in food advancements. However, bioethicists have been quick to point out that these advancements in science often raise ethical issues especially human molecular cloning.
The Promise of Gene Therapy and Cloning References
Ginn, S. L., Alexander, I. E., Edelstein, M. L., Abedi, M. R., & Wixon, J. (2013). Gene therapy clinical trials worldwide to 2012–an update. The journal of gene medicine, 15(2), 65-77.
Ogura, A., Inoue, K., & Wakayama, T. (2013). Recent advancements in cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1609), 20110329.
