Science, Technology and Society

Topic: The Aspect of Gene Therapy

By Ms. Shadel Joy Benliro

1. Would you try to submit yourself to gene therapy without its future advantages

and disadvantages? Why?

Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent

disease and if I were given a chance, I wouldn’t submit myself to it. First of all, its

promise to prevent or cure a disease is still unstable. If I have a hereditary illness I

would still prefer the traditional cure through drugs and surgery. Researchers of the

said therapy are still evaluating its safety, for this therapy can have very serious

health risks, such as toxicity, inflammation, and cancer. With all the exciting

possibilities gene therapy has brought, we can’t play blind with the high risk it

could give to our diseased loved ones and the availability it offers to the less

privileged individuals who are much more in need due to it high cost.

2. Can gene therapy be limited to medical concerns only or could be used for

aesthetic purposes? Why?

Aside from being against the use of gene therapy in medical concerns it is

not fair to use it for aesthetic purposes. Gene therapy for aesthetic purposes is

highly unfavourable for the part of the child because under this approach you can
change the physical appearance of a child or attempt to give an unborn child

certain traits that parents deem important like you are just playing a game and

building the kind of child you wanted and not accept the kind of child God has

given you. It’s like you are taking the right of the child to be him/her. Parents will

abuse their right or power over their child that is extremely selfish. I can’t imagine

the future generation that is altered.