One of the interesting things about modern times is genetic testing.
In its early days this led to fears that if you had a genetic test which said you were very likely to get say cancer, you then would not be able to get life insurance.
However now we have the upside of the testing which is gene therapy. It is now being tried on a rare genetic condition that causes eyesight to generate over time until it is lost.
Well, the Independent has a headline "The blind man who was given the gift of sight by gene therapy" which may be over egging it a little as he still had some residual sight so was not blind though he would have become so in time.
What is now going to happen is the techniques and understanding of how to replace defective genes in situ will grow in leaps and bounds, which may well lead to curers for many diseases which are at there heart genetic, and where they don't lead to a full cure they may at least stop the progress of the diseases.
The BBC has this.
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1 comment:
Gene therapy - the acceptable face of eugenics .....
except it isn't the treatment doesn't affect the gametes and so he'll be able to pass his defects on you plague future generations.
Personally I wouldn't permit such treatment unless the patient agreed to permanent sterilisation.
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