Human Gene TherapyImagine what it would be like if doctors could cure Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy, or even hemophilia. Could it be possible? With gene therapy all this could become reality in the near future. Gene therapy is a potential approach to treating genetic diseases in humans. It is a technique in which the absent or defective gene is replaced by a functioning gene, so that the body can produce the correct enzyme or protein and consequently eliminate the root cause of the disease (BIO, 1990). There are two types of gene therapy treatment: Somatic cell gene therapy and germline therapy. Somatic cell gene therapy involves obtaining blood cells from a person with a genetic disease and introducing a normal gene into the defective cell (Coutts, 1998). This type of gene therapy does not prevent the disease from occurring in the next generation because it does not affect sperm and eggs. Somatic cell gene therapy affects only other cells in the body. Gene therapy with somatic cells must be repeated several times throughout the patient's life because the effects do not last long. The contrast to somatic cell gene therapy is germline therapy. Germline therapy occurs in reproductive cells. It involves genetic modification of germ cells that will pass the change on to the next generation (Wilson, 1997). This type of gene therapy only needs to be done once to be permanent. One type of germline therapy involves treating a pre-embryo that carries a serious genetic defect before it is put back into the mother through in vitro fertilization. Another germline therapy involves treating adult sperm and eggs so that the genetic defect is not passed on to children (Coutts, 1998). If a genetic change occurs, it will be ... at the middle of the paper age where they will be able to understand the effects of the therapy and should be allowed to make their own decision. There are many considerations that go into this procedure, and I think people should be careful when considering life-altering gene therapy. References1. Biotechnology Industry Organization, 1990. Gene Therapy and Overview. Retrieved from TheWWW.10/16/99: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/IWT/Gene_Therapy_Overview.html2. Coutts, MC, Human gene therapy. Obtained from WWW. 10/16/99: http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/scopenotes/sn24.htm3. PBS online. What is gene therapy. Obtained from WWW. 10/16/99: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/innovation/show1/html/2sb-therapy.html4. Wilson, J. IHGT Institute for Human Gene Therapy. Obtained from WWW. 10/16/99: http://www.med.upenn.edu/ihgt/info/whatisgt.html