Social Implications and
Ethical Concerns
This fantastic breakthrough has become quite popular in the scientific community. Although this could push our medical society's research further and cure numerous diseases, we do have to take a look at the ethical concerns . Most of the concerns focus on the effects the procedures can have on an infant before they are born. Other concerns are based off of the false optimism that is being created by the researchers and staff involved. Below, the concerns are divided into two separate categories based off of the different procedures.
Cosmetic Concerns
Gene Therapy definitely has its ups and downs when looking at it from a social standpoint. To begin, somatic gene therapy could be used in a way that was not designed for how it is to be used. In today's society, for example, one of the most popular things in older years to do is get cosmetic enhancements. Society could begin to stray from using the therapy for medical cures and alleviations and begin to use it as a cosmetic enhancement. This could be taken in multiple ways, as there are medical conditions that utilize cosmetic surgeries to aid with burns or severe damage done to a patient. However, people do utilize things such as plastic surgery and other means of enhancement for pleasure. Could either side outweigh the other?
Society's Perception
Another social concern is how society as a whole would react towards the popularization of gene therapy. How would the world respond to gene therapy working better than the treatments that have been fully studied prior?The fact that we must face, however, is that science is not merely changing the barrier between disease and 'normality'. Gene therapy seems to be causing the meaning of being human to fade from view. As society pushes forward, the mindset of people are beginning to change. They are beginning to believe that the human species can be, in fact, perfected, as well as the fact that our biology has supposedly no limitations. This is when the obvious obsession of cheating death becomes more evident.
Are we playing "God" ?
The following subject is the biggest concern to those who have been reading into the topic gene therapy. The question at hand is whether it is socially and ethically acceptable to manipulate and alter the genes of humans AT ALL. Christians overall have long viewed scientific research as a proper response to God’s commands to take care of the Earth and to fill it with unique individuals. In relationship to the christian faith, humans are invited to explore what God has created, in order to become better caretakers of what he has created. It also serves as motivation to care better for our fellow humans and the other creatures we share the earth with. This is something that needs to be taken into consideration, as altering human genes could be taking away the uniqueness from God's creations.