Risks and benefits of germ line gene therapy to future generations

Abstract

Germ line gene therapy is the medical term referring to the alteration of the germ cells or early embryos so that genetic changes become permanently encoded in the sex cells of the resulting adult and his future generations. One of the main aims of this new form of therapy is to eradicate a hereditary disease from the germ line and so serving as a benefit to the recipient. However many risks, both technical and ethical, are present, especially in the light of our responsibilities to future generations. Do we have a duty to alleviate suffering to unborn people? Do they have rights to acquire an unaltered genome? Can this 'beneficiary' technique be used for malicious ends? Are we taking over God's role? These are a few of the ethical issues raised which will be dealt with in this dissertation, not to arrive to a final definite conclusion as much as to throw light on this new issue so as to help law makers in setting ethically correct guidelines and the general public to get better informed. Nothing is more important to the future of research than its commitment to ethical integrity.