• Question: How will genetic modification and engineering impact upon adult humans in the future [what are the additional applications or potential developments of the technique?]

    Asked by snacks to Anne, Carolyn, Joe, Mariana, Nick on 17 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Nick Bradshaw

      Nick Bradshaw answered on 17 Mar 2010:

      Personally, I can’t see large scale genetic modificaiton of people being possible any time soon, and even if it was possible, then that doesn’t mean we should do it.

      The only way in which this might happen is through “gene therapy”. This is an idea that has been around for a good 20 years or so, but is just starting to make progress now. Basically the idea is that if someone has a disease which is caused by a “faulty” gene, then you could introduce a healthy version of that gene to a few cells in their body to fix the probelm.

      Some of my colleagues in Edinburgh are currently working on gene therapy for cystic fibrosis. This disease is caused when a gene in the lungs goes wrong leading to various probelms, and in particular build up of mucus which the body can’t get rid of and makes breathing difficult. They are hoping to develop a “spray” that will add a correct version of the gene into some of the patients lung cells in the hope that these healthy cells will then start to get rid of the mucus and improve the patient’s health

      A big advantage of gene therapy like this is, because it only affects a few cells, there is no risk of modified DNA being passed on to a persons decendants, something which a lot of people seem worried about.

    • Photo: Mariana Vargas

      Mariana Vargas answered on 17 Mar 2010:

      Hi there, great question, although I think you may find a related answer by browsing in “genes zone” where the genetics experts are writing.

      At the moment I don’t know of any genetic modification or engineering attempted at all with humans. All there has been so far is what is called pre implantation screening, where embryos produced by in vitro fertilisation are checked before implantation in human mothers. This screening is allowed when some of the embryos could have a life threatening disease that can be found by checking their DNA. So in this case genetics has been applied to allow parents to prevent miscarriage of affected foetuses and to allow parents to have a healthy baby.

      The use of genetic modifications in humans is an important topic to discuss between law-makers, scientists and citizens, because as a society it is crucial that we generate ethical laws and systems to prevent the missuse of genetics.

    • Photo: Joseph Devlin

      Joseph Devlin answered on 17 Mar 2010:

      Hopefully, we’ll be able to use genetic screening techniques to help rid humans of diseases like Huntington’s disease and certain forms of Alzheimer’s disease. The technology already exists to do this, but it isn’t widely used yet.

      In the future, genetic engineering might be an avenue for treating diseases as well. Certainly some forms of cancer have been targeted with “smart drugs” which are just poisons that only affect cells that are suffering from a particular form of cancer. I’m sure this is one of the most likely areas to see major advances. As we discover new markers for more and more types of cancer, we’ll see medicine move away from things like chemotherapy (that effectively targets every dividing cell in your body) and towards “smart chemo” that only targets the diseased cells.

      I suspect that in 50 years time, we’ll look back on current cancer treatments as incredibly barbaric — not much beyond blood lettings in ye olden dayes.

    • Photo: Carolyn McGettigan

      Carolyn McGettigan answered on 19 Mar 2010:

      Genetic engineering was a really hot topic when I was at school in the late 90s, with a lot of worry about the prospect of eugenics and ‘designer babies’ with carefully selected appearance and personality traits. Thankfully, this type of genetic ‘selection’ doesn’t seem to have changed much and is still confined to science fiction movies.

      I think there are a lot of important ethical issues surrounding genetic screening of embryos and foetuses. Another student asked about pre-natal screening for cystic fibrosis so hopefully you can see our answers there.

      As far as I’m aware, gene therapy to ‘correct’ abnormal DNA in human genetic diseases is still in its early stages, but this could have a lot of promise for the treatment of diseases after birth and in adulthood. For example, gene therapy approaches to cystic fibrosis (CF) aim to introduce corrective DNA into target cells in the respiratory tract, where many of the symptoms of CF originate, thus helping these cells to make the healthy version of a protein that is faulty in CF patients.

      Of course, there’s already plenty of genetic modification of crops, for example introducing genes to soya bean plants to make them pest resistant, which supports greater crop yields. This has been going on for a while and millions of people have eaten these foods, so that’s already a form of genetic modification that’s affecting adult humans. It’s also not without controversy, and people have worried that the modified genes could transfer to human cells on consumption to cause mutations or cancers. I don’t know think there’s much convincing evidence for such harmful side effects. I assume the genetic modification industry will continue to expand.

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