NationStates Jolt Archive

The scientific comunity has almost finished mapping the Human Genome, and very soon we will know exactly what makes us "human".

In my opinion, the greatest application of the Human Genome Map is a process known as "gene therapy", a system in which undesirable genetic information (such as the gene carrying cancer) can be engineered out and replaced with benign information.

Ever heard of the "bubble boy" syndrome? It's a disease where a person's immune system is so fragile that they need to live in a completely sterile environment in order to survive. Human trials have made great strides in eliminating this illness.

I wont go to far into the process, as I do not even fully understand it myself. But I can safely say that this has vast lifesaving potential. Cancer can be eliminated from the gene pool within generations. The AIDS virus could be eradicated with selective targeting. It is boundless...

But, we must take into consideration the various "moral issues" at hand. Obviously there is the idea of "playing God" that is unfavorable to the religious. I however, have a more secular problem; military applications, and the creation of "superhumans".

Now those of you who have played "Metal Gear Solid" will know where I am coming from. In addition to isolating genes that cause cancer, it is a fact that the scientific community has also found genes that create a superior fighting machine, such as increased stamina, eyesight, reflexes, etc. Using selective gene targeting, we could take existing soldiers and enhance them ever so subtly. What's more, with the advent of cloning, we could possibly breed a race of soldiers of work force.

I have doubts...but I think with regulation, ethical reasoning, and good old fasioned common sense, "gene therapy" could be the the medicine of tommorow, a success surpassing penecilin.

...Or it could be the next weapon to be proliferated.

What do you think?

They are already talking about gene therapy to enhance athletes.

So now, the wimpy French bicyclists can all get the cardiovascular genes from Lance Armstrong.

The neat thing about gene therapy is that by and large, athletic genes would be indistinguishable from natural ones.

I can see the day coming when an athlete would have to have their genes printed at birth - and checked before every competition to ensure they weren't modified.

Humans have been 'playing god' since we decided to use fire to our advantage. We have intelligence, we are capable of using, why shouldn't we? If we can artificially evolve humans into a superrace what reason is there not to? Some good ol' fashioned human genes are being weakened through time while others are getting stronger. We are plagued by a virus that spreads using our own method of reproduction. The human race is being attacked on a level that can be countered by gene therapy, and we would be able to surpass all 'normal' evolution with gene therapy. If we could extend human life, strengthen the immune system, and increase intelligence. The galaxy would be at our feet if we survived the next millenia. Let's do it! :gundge:

Humans have been 'playing god' since we decided to use fire to our advantage. We have intelligence, we are capable of using, why shouldn't we? If we can artificially evolve humans into a superrace what reason is there not to? Some good ol' fashioned human genes are being weakened through time while others are getting stronger. We are plagued by a virus that spreads using our own method of reproduction. The human race is being attacked on a level that can be countered by gene therapy, and we would be able to surpass all 'normal' evolution with gene therapy. If we could extend human life, strengthen the immune system, and increase intelligence. The galaxy would be at our feet if we survived the next millenia. Let's do it! :gundge:

I applaud your enthusiam!

I can see a Gattaca scenario playing ot to where there will be discrimination against those who dont have super -genes because they couldnt afford it, or whatever.

I would hope that there would be a way to offer it cheaply to everybody who wants it, but let's be realistic; there wont be.

Anyway, I am still all for it and I think that a mass of great minds would be able to come up with great solutions.

I can see a Gattaca scenario playing ot to where there will be discrimination against those who dont have super -genes because they couldnt afford it, or whatever
Or a Brave New World scenario where the government has usurped genetic technology and now, for all intents and purposes, "breeds" humans.

And then the Gattaca scenario could be reversed, as where people with genetic enhancements are discriminated against. Heck, like w/Gundam SEED, the dsicrimination and tension compounds into an all-out war.

I'm for gene therapy. But hell, I'm looking at doing biochemistry or genetics at uni, so it would be my job. :D

The sad thing is, wherever there is the opportunity to create a weapon, we seem to be obsessed with making it. I have little doubt that some bioweapon or other is being developed with gene therapy, or will be soon. Sad refelction of society and all that.

Priorities of the engineering products of basic research tend to be:

1. Military
2. Money
3. Anything else

if my girl and I ever decided to have a kid I would be all for having it raised in a test tube if it could develope in a healthy way. And if they could make sure that it had no vision defects, or be prone to any particular diseases I would be completely onboard. If they could make it smarter and stronger, count me in. I am not so sure where they should draw the line.

I can see discrimination against super-genes when starting out but it will only be rich people anyway so it will still be rich against poor. And the poor could never win a war against the rich. Especially rich super humans.

if my girl and I ever decided to have a kid I would be all for having it raised in a test tube if it could develope in a healthy way. And if they could make sure that it had no vision defects, or be prone to any particular diseases I would be completely onboard. If they could make it smarter and stronger, count me in. I am not so sure where they should draw the line.

I can see discrimination against super-genes when starting out but it will only be rich people anyway so it will still be rich against poor. And the poor could never win a war against the rich. Especially rich super humans.

Western nations will subsidize it amongst themselves.
In some European nations, the government will offer payment.
In the US, you'll be able to get a loan.

The cost of these things is dropping every day. They say that you could get your own genetic map today for a little over a million dollars - but in a year or two, that will be down to a thousand dollars.

Give it a decade, and getting your designer kid will probably be less than ten thousand dollars.

Once known, you can't unlearn something. Gene Therapy is becoming a valid and lifesaving technology. It also has the potential to be a horrific weapon.
So now, society has a choice- let it be investigated to its full potential by the scientific community or try to lock-up the knowledge and hope people forget about it?
If the scientic community investigates it, you have a broad pool of people with a wide diversity of beliefs and moral that will keep the uses of gene therapy mostly inline with society's thinking. You will have people looking at how to 'undo' what gene therapy 'does'. You will constantly have arguements about the morality. There will be oversight.
If you try to lock it up, prevent research on gene therapy. Those who do keep researching it will be people of NO morals backed by people with $$ and even less morals about how to use it. They won't care about straightening out any problems it causes. There will be no oversight.
So, forget moral arguements. Its a new science, it WILL be investigated. Its up to us to decide how to let it be explored.

Genes may be attributed to violence...poor immune systems...etc. if we used gene therapy to get the best out of a human then the world would be a much better place. if every person could be changed to have slightly better genes then the next generation of people would have even more better genes. no one would be weak, no one would be stupid and no one would be afraid of each other because they would be very similer. i think its a great idea. :D

Yes to gene therapy!!!
I want to rule the galaxy!!!

Priorities of the engineering products of basic research tend to be:

1. Military
2. Money
3. Anything else

That seems to be a sad, but true fact.

(sigh) Curse human nature...

I want my genes spliced with cannabis,psilocybin and bill gates bank account

Well, I'm proud to be one of the last native gays. *sighs*

Genes may be attributed to violence...poor immune systems...etc. if we used gene therapy to get the best out of a human then the world would be a much better place. if every person could be changed to have slightly better genes then the next generation of people would have even more better genes. no one would be weak, no one would be stupid and no one would be afraid of each other because they would be very similer. i think its a great idea. :D

ARG! That's exactly what I DON'T want to happen!

You know how BORING that would be?!

What attributes would you ask for if you could upgrade your kid?

bigger penis? extra penis?

If you are for gene therapy, where do you think they shoudl draw the line?

If possible should there be a region where there were only naturals allowed (No super-humans could mingle or breed), so as not to contaminate the naturals offspring?

Hey it wouldnt be boring because u dont have to be violent to have fun now do u? if your on about penis siz i think you should get your mojo gene turned down a notch

Hey it wouldnt be boring because u dont have to be violent to have fun now do u? if your on about penis siz i think you should get your mojo gene turned down a notch

I was injecting a joke into my otherwise serious question. I am actually tired of teh sex as of late - i need to up my mojo baby yeah.

What attributes would you ask for if you could upgrade your kid?

bigger penis? extra penis?

If you are for gene therapy, where do you think they shoudl draw the line?

If possible should there be a region where there were only naturals allowed (No super-humans could mingle or breed), so as not to contaminate the naturals offspring?

Extreme intelligence. Fairly athletic. Looks would be important. Good singing voice - not tone deaf.

who needs it

who needs it
If you mean "Who needs gene therapy?":
Everyone who has a disorder passed through genes or a tendency for a disorder.

Phyrexia - The land of phyresis.
Some of you might understand, most probably not. At least, not completely.

I've heard talk of the possibility of Gene Therapy to be used for Life Extension. Thus, people will start to age much slower than they normally would. At age 90, people would still look 40, and the average age of death would be something like 150. Now, whilst this may appear to be an attractive option, I think we have to seriously consider the implications that this would have in terms of global population.

I believe that until we start to firmly establish colonies on other planets, thus leave ourselves open to expansion, the technology should not be employed.

The scientific comunity has almost finished mapping the Human Genome, and very soon we will know exactly what makes us "human".
Don't jump the gun. Mapping the genome does not mean that we understand what each base pair does in the position it is atand how changing it would affect the person. We are a very long way away from this. All that it means is that we will have a long encoded sequence that defines what is a specific person in biochemical terms. We don't know how to read the code yet.

In my opinion, the greatest application of the Human Genome Map is a process known as "gene therapy", a system in which undesirable genetic information (such as the gene carrying cancer) can be engineered out and replaced with benign information.
Gene therapy will be able to do this, some way off into the future. What you are doing is a little like saying: "Hey. we've nearly finished building first electronic computer. We'll all be able to go and play Doom 3 tomorrow. Yes the first steps are being made. We may be able to do the equivalent of playing spacewar soon. Doom 3 will have to wait a while.
What we will be able to do is to treat some known and easily identifiable genetic problems fairly soon. These will probably include things like hemophillia and Muscular Dystrophy. More complex things, such as depression, are a long way off.

Ever heard of the "bubble boy" syndrome? It's a disease where a person's immune system is so fragile that they need to live in a completely sterile environment in order to survive. Human trials have made great strides in eliminating this illness.
I have not heard of any gene therapy treatment for this yet, but yes it is a prime candidate for such treatment.

I wont go to far into the process, as I do not even fully understand it myself. But I can safely say that this has vast lifesaving potential. Cancer can be eliminated from the gene pool within generations. The AIDS virus could be eradicated with selective targeting. It is boundless...

quack quack oops. Cancer is not necessarily an inherited genetic defect. It can not be eliminated by gene therapy. AIDS can not be affected by gene therapy on humans, unless we develop a protein based vaccine and engineer our genes to produce that protein. It is not boundless. It can correct defective genes. That is all. How much this will be possible post natally is also not clear. How does one change the genes in all the cells of a living adult human?

But, we must take into consideration the various "moral issues" at hand. Obviously there is the idea of "playing God" that is unfavorable to the religious. I however, have a more secular problem; military applications, and the creation of "superhumans".

Now those of you who have played "Metal Gear Solid" will know where I am coming from. In addition to isolating genes that cause cancer, it is a fact that the scientific community has also found genes that create a superior fighting machine, such as increased stamina, eyesight, reflexes, etc. Using selective gene targeting, we could take existing soldiers and enhance them ever so subtly. What's more, with the advent of cloning, we could possibly breed a race of soldiers of work force.

I have doubts...but I think with regulation, ethical reasoning, and good old fasioned common sense, "gene therapy" could be the the medicine of tommorow, a success surpassing penecilin.

...Or it could be the next weapon to be proliferated.

What do you think?

You can not undo discoveries. So we will have to learn how to deal with this. I think that this "super fighting machine" gene set discovery is probably just rumour. We do not even have a clear understanding of which genes determine a persons height yet, let alone which ones affect his or her reflexes.

Regulation is going to be difficult to establish as it will need to be done by those that understand the science, but these people are going to be those that would not wish to restrict the acquisition of knowledge. If it is done by non specialists, the regulation will be ineffective, if it is done by specialists it will be very permissive.

Critical questions of funding also enter the picture. The usual source of funding for biomedical research is
1. Military
2. Pharmaceuticals

If we ban military usage, then we will end up with proprietry cures for genetic illnesses. If your child has a likelyhood to develop diabetes, you can prevent this by paying BigDrugCo. Inc. a fortune, or you can take your chances.

Will gene sequences become the property of the drug companies?

Gene therapy will happen, but how it happens is going to demand a lot of thinking about our science funding and the laws of intellectual property.

Well thanks Alien Born for making me look like a COMPLETE ASS!

j/k :D

It's a big yay from me, within ethical guidelines of course. But I think the whole kerfuffle over Brave New Worldesque scenarios isa mountain out of a molehill really. Probably spread by people against embryonic stem cell research...

Gene thearapy is in existance already...it doesnt just mean changing our genetic makeup it is also used to make parts of the body grow properly or to get a new lease of life in certain areas of the body...the current use is growing veins and the like around blockages in the system so people with bad bloodflow in their legs can now enjoybetter bloodflow in their legs.

guess every one got bored with that one aye. :mp5:

The kind of gene therepy that would make everyone perfect is a long way off. Good thing too. Crazy people are the only ones who assure you of whats sane. Without the crazies, any abnormal thought would lead to thinking you are insane.
I hope I die before this happens, but it would be interesting watching it from heaven. Or hell, since I did qualify for the eighth circle of it.