As with any new technology, there are social, ethical, and legal issues to take into consideration. In the development of gene therapy, there have been a number of questions posed as to whether or not this type of treatment should be allowed.

What are the social, ethical, and legal implications of using gene therapy to treat diseases and disorders? 

Some questions to consider:

• Who should decide how gene therapy will be used?
• Who decides what 'normal' is?
• Are disabilities and disorders something that needs to be cured or prevented?
• What are the possible side effects of gene therapy? Who decides whether the benefits outweigh the risks?
• Is it more ethical to use cells from adults as opposed to embryonic cells in gene therapy research?

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Somatic cell gene therapy research is relatively uncontroversial but the debate aboutgermline genet... View the full answer