

Let progress proceed - gene therapy over-regulated  - jostmey
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/03/gene-therapists-ask-to-be-released.html?ref=hp

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jostmey
What most people don't realize about gene therapy is that it is not a scary
technology. Gene therapy essentially happens to us all the time when our
bodies are invaded by viruses. In fact, our bodies respond to gene therapies
in much the same way it responds to a viral infection. That is to say, our
bodies will mount an immune response to any foreign DNA being introduced. So
gene therapy is not really that different from catching a viral infection.

Gene therapy is also not as permanent as some people might believe. Gene
therapy will not be passed down to someones offspring - not unless it were
deliberately targeted to their gamete (sex) cells. Furthermore, a typical gene
therapy will wear off in a few years, as the foreign DNA becomes removed/lost
in our bodies over time.

In short, Gene therapy is not really as scary as it sounds. It is far less
effective then the public at large might believe. Yet, it promises to offer
treatments to a myriad of human ailments. It is time for the public to become
more accepting of the technology. It is not something to fear. We are not
going to be seeing mutant, super humans walking the earth in the next hundred
years with our current level of technology.

