MEDICAL ETHICS IN GENE THERAPY

Abstract

The spectacular revolutions of the twenty first century in genetic and information technologies brought caused fundamental paradigm shifts in human thinking, communication, work, and play. Scientists are now able to convert, operate, and produce living organisms for most purposes. From medicine to agriculture and many other fields, manipulation of entire organisms, their genetic codes, and their natural environments can be manipulated. While such biotechnology is very beneficial for uses in medicine, crop production, and other areas, a number of ethical issues have arisen and more are likely to arise. It is important to harness these technologies in light of modern ethical principles to prevent misuse and unintended or intended harm. This paper highlights the principles of human ethics as well as raises questions that could be relevant to the future direction of further advances in biotechnology, in particular gene therapy.