Ida’s Genes
We all have that overbearing and obnoxiously persistent family member who somehow manages to follow you around each family reunion, demanding your time and asking the most ludicrous questions. Maybe it’s an odd, adolescent cousin who wears a tinfoil hat and emits strange beeping noises at any given moment. Or perhaps it’s your fusty aunt Ida who is constantly brushing up against you while lacking any real sense of personal space.
“You are the spitting image of your father!” Your dear aunt Ida yaps, slapping her aged hands against the sides of your face and pinching your cheeks just a little too tightly. You wrongfully struggle against her steel embrace, desperate for oxygen that hasn’t been horribly tainted with her sweet-sick perfume.
“A-alright, Ida…” you weeze, finally managing to rip yourself from her clutch. Before Ida can protest, you hear your uncle calling the house for dinner and terror strikes somewhere within you. Wonderful. Now you would have to sit through a long, sempiternal dinner, staring down your parents with burning animosity for forcing you to attend in the first place. Dinner barely crawls by, as minutes turn into hours and you are subdued to a dinner in hell. As table erupts in an odious laughter, aunt Ida vigorously pushes herself from the table and stands to her wobbly old feet.
After a long moment of smacking on her gums, Ida opens her mouth and squawks, “Well kids, them doctors be sayin’ I got cancer, something with them cells. Say they been mutatin’ and whatnot…” The table grows still as the mood shifts and everyone sits in stiff silence. Another moment of silence passes, and Ida slumps back down in her chair, neglecting the megillah you’re all curious to hear.
“Cell mutation?” Someone asks. Your uncle grunts, “Urm-uh, cell mutation is, uh, when good cells become, ur- bad cells.” Nicely said, but let’s take it a step further.
In a normal, healthy cell, hundreds of genes are carefully controlling the process of cell division. Your natural growth depends on genes that actively support rapid cell reproduction, and those that actively suppress it. According to Scitable, cells can become cancerous once mutations form in the same genes that control cell proliferation.
“Ur-uh, what-uh... what treatments have you considered?” He continued to stammer.
“Naw-aw boy, I ain’t puttin’ none o’ those chemicals in my body.” Ida screeched, making each individual around the table wince. Despite her intolerably high-pitched voice, she makes for a fair argument. Afterall, chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses chemical substances to destroy cancer cells, along with a number of healthy cells inside your body. Chemotherapy is just one of the three most popular cancer treatments, alongside surgery and radiation.
But what if there was a way Ida could be treated without having to undergo the great physical strain of chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation? Perhaps there is. Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to correct or prevent disease. Oh, you have no idea what I’m talking about? Don’t stress, we’ll start from the beginning.
A few things you should try to keep in mind as we discuss gene therapy include; your genes makeup everything you are, everything you think, everything you say and everything you are physically capable of doing. On top of this, genes play a vital role in most, if not all diseases. For example, disorders such as cystic fibrosis and hemophilia are direct results of a change in one’s genes. Another example; the loss of gene activity in certain cells can often times be associated with aging disorders. Heck, even a few infections are directly correlated with your genes. That’s right, no one is safe from the wrath of the genes.
Our genes are the reason we exist, and our genes are the reason we all meet death somewhere down the line. But imagine me this, what if we no longer had to fear our own genetic makeup, but we were promised a cure? Gene therapy has the potential to treat diseases such as cancer, AIDS, cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis. Now, take a moment and imagine a world without said diseases. If you seem to be struggling with this, allow me to provide you with a little perspective. In 2014, an estimated 1.2 million people died from AIDS. Now, in case you weren’t already aware, that’s a lot of people.To make matters worse, a certain percentile of those people were only children between the ages of 7-16. Just think about it.
Perhaps you are beginning to see gene therapy in the same light I do, or perhaps not. Either way, we’re not done yet. Next, a quick history lesson coming your way! It was 1972 when researchers first suggested the study of gene therapy, but opposed its use on human subjects as they had yet to familiarize themselves with both the technology and the science. And so they began, testing various methods and researching endlessly until the year 1990. In 1990, the first human subject to undergo gene therapy was treated for strict immunodeficiency. Years later, in 2003, gene therapy was approved in China for the treatment of specific variations of cancer. And in 2014, gene therapy was showing promise in multiple clinical trials for inherited blood disorders, certain types of progressive blindness and HIV. Now we can learn a little more about the works of gene therapy itself.
There is actually two separate types of gene therapy, somatic cell gene therapy and germ line gene therapy. Let’s review both. Somatic cell gene therapy changes, fixes, or replaces genes in just one person. The cells that are specifically targeted by doctors are the only ones affected by somatic gene therapy, and the changes that are made are not passed down to that patient’s potential offspring. In short, somatic cell gene therapy is the process of introducing a normal gene into a defective cell. This method is the most popular of the two.
Meanwhile, germ line gene therapy is the task of conducting change within the sperm or egg of an individual. The changes made during this procedure will be changes shared with this individual's potential offspring. This type of gene therapy is the least popular of the two, as it raises several questions about the continued existence of the human race, and the moral implications of genetically altering our future generations.
Gene therapy is one of the most intricate and precise technical challenges in modern science. As you can imagine, introducing new genes into faulty cells is no tea party. While it’s one thing to insert these new genes into a patient’s cells, it’s an entirely new task to keep these genes active and functioning properly. Allow me to explain; genes are only microscopic, which is almost ironic considering their great value to each and every individual, but that’s besides the point. Making sure a single, microscopic gene is inserted into the correct cell, is responsibly activated, and stays activated is a job only meant for the best of us. You’re probably wondering how a gene could become inactive, right? Our cells have a slight tendency to shut down the genes that seem to be misbehaving, are too active, or are demonstrating other odd behaviours. And what if a gene were to be incorporated into the wrong cells? Delivering a gene to the wrong cell would be both unproductive, and possibly hazardous with results of potential illness. For example; if a gene was to be incorporates into the germline or reproductive cells, then it would take effect within the patient’s sperm or eggs. In result of this, the patient would continue to pass this gene to their children. Depending on the gene, the consequences could be either minimal or vast.
Another issue researchers are facing as they experiment with gene therapy is the research itself. Skeptics are saying that too little is known about gene therapy and the procedure, and that testing should be limited to lab animals until scientists have become familiar with the new technology and science. However, a large percentile of geneticists believe differently, as human test subjects are vital to their research. Gene therapy is new concept, and will take time to for scientists to fully understand. However, researchers claim that the therapy could be limitless when and if the researchers are allowed to perform their work properly.
Despite this potential, gene therapy remains an incredibly controversial topic. Though everyone shares differentiating opinions on the matter, many arguments have been made along the lines; Genetic testing is an invasion of privacy, abortion rates will rise if parental tests are performed, and of course, what will it do to the economy? Well, considering I’m only in high school and know very little of the world’s economy, I’m not at liberty to say. However, I can say that each of these arguments is fair to some extent. Society has every right to know just when, and how gene therapy will affect their lives and the lives around them.
And the last thing I’m going to write about; regulations. After all, if we start genetically altering our own bodies, where does it stop? How far is too far? Scientist’s opinions on the matter vary greatly, from accusing gene therapy of being unnatural and a disgrace to all mankind, to celebrating the ability to finally generate super humans.
Gene therapy’s potential is greatly underestimated, as a large percentile of our society knows little, if any of it. Though I have very little interest in the manufacturing of superhumans, I have found myself completely engrossed in the science behind gene therapy itself. Society needs to educate itself on the matter of gene therapy, as it may be the cure we are looking for one day. Despite slow research, gene therapy is opening up the minds of scientists everywhere, as they are allowed a quick glimpse into the future of the human race. Similar to any scientific theory, gene therapy comes with risks, but with the power to save loved ones from death, I believe that’s a risk society is willing to venture. And maybe, just maybe, save your dear aunt Ida’s life that you don’t care all that much for.
WORKS CITED
"TIMELINE-Milestones in Gene Therapy." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 27 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"What Is Gene Therapy?" Genetics Home Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"What Is a Gene Mutation and How Do Mutations Occur?" Genetics Home Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"How Cancer Starts." Cancer Research UK. N.p., 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"Nov 2015." Discover Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"ASPECTS OF GENE THERAPY (PROS & CONS)." ASPECTS OF GENE THERAPY. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"Gene Therapy - Genetics Generation." Genetics Generation. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"Learn Genetics." Learn Genetics. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
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