The first case of AIDS was confirmed in June, 1981 in Los Angeles. The AIDS virus is actually a product of the HIV virus. This virus, unlike most diseases, targets our bodies white blood cells which form the most important part of our immune system, and makes victims susceptible to even the most basic of diseases. More than thirty years later, we still don’t have a cure for AIDS, but scientists have recently been turning to a new possible solution. This solution is gene therapy. The testing of this concept is still in its earlier stages and thus, is mainly supported as people, so far at least, have no reason to oppose it. The current, most popular ideas are immunotherapy (providing the patient with T-cell clones) and antiviral therapy (making infected cells immune). Currently, these methods are both unconfirmed as to whether or not they work, and are also far too expensive for practical use of the public.
The benefits of the application of this science are actually very obvious. The biggest of these benefits is the cure of AIDS, which has and still does kill thousands of people. The other benefit of a cure for AIDS is that if gene therapy is able to cure a virus that has eluded scientists for over thirty years, it could lead to a world where there are no “terminal illnesses”. How will gene therapy for AIDS redesign life? It could lead to decades added to the human lifespan, a complete termination of illness, and bring us one step closer to understanding ourselves as a race.
Is the cure possible? Sure, I've done research, but in reality I was only reading words on a computer screen. To confirm (or disprove) the possibility of a cure through gene therapy I asked Mark Collins, a biology major from UCLA. "At this point I don't think researchers can be completely certain," said Mark, "From what I know, this 'gene therapy' sounds promising. If they can't find the cure there, well, I can't really say I know where they could find it."
At first one might believe that finding a cure for AIDS would come with no risks or negatives, but that would be hopeful thinking. The first of the risks in finding this cure is an economic one. Research and Development of things like vaccines cost a lot of money, and while AIDS research is very highly supported by the public, it is still cause for concern. The other risk involved is yet to come, but will happen as long as we search for this cure. This problem is human trials. Eventually, before scientists can say that they’ve found the cure for AIDS, they will first need to test it on live subjects. If, somehow, the cure is imperfect, there is potential for tragedy. If a death in trials were to happen, AIDS research could lose a lot of public support, which would in turn lead back to the money problem. However, AIDS has claimed enough victims, so even with these risks, continuing to search for the cure should take the highest precedence over any obstacles.
I strongly believe that the searching for a cure for AIDS through gene therapy is a moral concept. Though since HIV is unique to humans, tests can only be held on humans. Human tests could be considered immoral, but surely the program would make any necessary tests as safe as possible. As to whether or not this cure would impact me directly, the answer is unfortunately no. I myself, certainly do not have AIDS, and I know nobody who does. The biggest way the cure would impact me is through a conversation about it. Finally, my answer to the question on if we as a race should consider re-designing life. It’s simple: yes. Of course, while I do support progress, I do not support recklessness. This technology can lead us to a bright future, but this is not possible if we proceed without caution. I believe there are some places that man was never meant to tread. Those places are still far off, though, and re-designing life is just one step.
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