Recent experiments claim that two babies have been born that were genetically engineered to resist HIV infection. Should this or any similar genetic modifications (which can be passed from generation to generation unlike standard gene therapy) be allowed for humans? Explain.
I have mixed feelings about this situation. I do believe that if this was distributed to all new born babies and passed down through generations, it would create a positive situation around the world. Eventually all individuals would be resistant to the HIV virus and also the stigma that comes with it. However, I also view it as cheating life and being more susceptible to other viruses as a result is not worth being cured from HIV. Because of the risks associated, I think this genetic technique should only be distributed to couples that want children but can’t because they are positive for the HIV virus. Also, it should be a choice, not a requirement, for these couples to have this gene therapy done and the effects are clearly stated. This way it would increase their autonomy on this decision.
I think as long as these modifications are for the betterment of mankind, that they are a positive thing. Allowing children to be modified so that they cannot bear a deadly disease is a good thing and a great way to prevent potentially unneeded suffering in the future. I honestly think it would be a great thing to slowly weed out genetic diseases and eliminate preventable illness.
When the focus shifts to eugenics is where the picture gets muddy. I don’t feel that people should be able to make designer babies. Although I believe genetically modifying a child for the betterment of future generations is a good thing, I feel like hand selecting every trait your child may or may not have is kind of crossing the line.
I don’t think that this should be allowed. I’m all for curing HIV/AIDS, but doing it in a way that allows us to pass on that resistant gene seems wrong to me. I feel there is a certain point where we need to know when playing god has to have its restrictions. If we allow this to happen, a lot of potential good can come from this. But also, a lot of bad can as well. If this becomes an accepted procedure in modern medicine, the only people who are going to afford it are rich people and government scientists. We’ve seen how militaristic and developed countries have fought for land, space, nuclear weapons, etc. Modifying people to make them more fit for war sounds like a Marvel comic, but it isn’t like humans are above this. Not saying that we will be able to start creating the X-Men next year, but permanently changing our species just feels like it will lead to more problems when we can’t even figure out the common cold.
Another point, if we make a certain percentage of people more resistant to pretty much Life, then we’ll be even more overpopulated than we already are. Our planet is not made to sustain the amount of people we have on it now, so making people able to survive more “natural” causes due to our instinctive desire to repopulate and dominate our environment is not worth depleting every other resource known on Earth.
I don’t think that this should be allowed. While I agree that curing HIV/AIDS is a good thing for the human population, it is not worth it if those individuals are then more susceptible to other diseases and infections. We should instead be focusing our resources on finding ways to treat those who already have it and prevent others from getting it. The scientist in the video talked about he was “healing families” because this gene therapy allowed a couple who had HIV to produce healthy children, but at what cost? These children could end up with a whole host of issues due to this gene intervention and the fact of the matter is that we just don’t know how they are going to be affected until they are older. This type of science is far too risky and in my opinion unnecessary. We need to focus on treating those who have currently “incurable” diseases and preventing more people from getting it. Part of that means that people with those diseases that can be passed on shouldn’t reproduce. Altering genes is not the answer because we are still uncertain of what the consequences will be in the future for these children.
I think that this type of research should be allowed in humans as it is beneficial as long as the risks have been fully explained. That being said I think that this should be done after successful trials in other primates in order to see the effects of the treatment long term. Humans seem to already have enough mutations in their genes that are basically heritable gene treatment such as being heterozygous for sickle cell anemia. If the trait is recessive, it probably doesn’t matter much in the near future because they would have to find another human with that gene which would probably be rare. Long term side effects should definitely be considered when making the decision to gene edit our children and I think that we should more fully understand these before we make this process commonplace.
I have mixed feelings regarding this, I don’t think they should have right to genetically engineered babies to resist HIV. To have the ability to pass the resisted gene from generation to generation to come. I don’t feel it is right for just this disease, why not use their ability for other genetic diseases that affect the heart, lungs, brain, muscle, and so forth. I think this more important than HIV. The chances of getting HIV is very small, but getting some these genetic diseases are much higher. I have worked as an Respiratory Therapist and seen children with cystic fibrosis die. It was very heart breaking because you get to know the child and their family very well. I don’t want to see another child die from this disease. I would be grateful if they can find a way to do this for diseases like Cystic Fibrosis and any other genetic diseases. But then again let nature takes it’s course.
No one should play God!!
I think this genetic modification should be allowed for anyone who is a consenting adult. Babies don’t have the ability to verbalize and consent to such treatment; they aren’t given a choice in the matter. If anyone over the age of 17 chooses to modify their genetics, they can choose to pass it down or not to their children. As long as the risks are fully explained to the the adults, any type of genetic modification testing should be allowed.
I do not support ideas such as this. Although it could be seemingly beneficial, this study resulted in other deficits rather than the HIV, and this could continue on even with further research. The body is ever-changing on its own so I do not believe we need to intervene in its pure development. I think some restrictive measures can be put into place that are less invasive to the body and DNA, but I think this may be a step too far.
In the context of HIV resistance, I feel that genetically engineering humans is a bad idea. A medication already exists that makes individuals resistant to HIV and has been used successfully for high risk individuals: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html
Current treatments for individuals that already have HIV are also steadily getting better with HIV antiretroviral treatments now being able to bring down viral load to undetectable levels that effectively make those that have the disease no longer able to transmit it to others:
https://www.catie.ca/en/fact-sheets/transmission/hiv-viral-load-hiv-treatment-and-sexual-hiv-transmission
Given that we already have these treatments available, genetically engineering humans to be resistant to HIV seems extremely unnecessary.
In the broader context of genetically modifying humans, it’s a big “I don’t know” at this point. There may be some major unforeseen consequences for the two children that were genetically engineered. Unfortunately, they may have to serve as the case study in terms of what can happen when we go this route.
Interesting. I think that some of the drugs you mention are based on the natural HIV resistance. They block viral entry by binding to proteins that the virus uses to get into the cell. One of these proteins is mutated in resistant individuals.