Gene Therapy Essay

Over many years, scientists have achieved the understanding of the human body. For example, how each system of the human body works, but most importantly, how they fail to work has led to different disease processes and the possible treatments. Although genetic research began long ago, it was not until 1990, when the Human Genome Project was introduced and successfully completed in 2003 (National Human Genome Institute, 2014). This project allowed scientists to understand the “sequences that make up the human DNA” (Moss, 2014, p.155) and map out almost all the genes in the human genome, as well as acquiring an excess amount of information. As a result, gene therapy was introduced to prevent or decrease the effects of diseases by replacing …show more content…
It is our responsibility to be an advocate for our patient and protecting them from harm. With that being said, gene therapy raises an ethical dilemma regarding the right to self-determination. According to ANA, patients have the right to determination, “Patients have the moral and legal right to determine what will be done with and to their own person… to be assisted with weighing the benefits, burdens, and available options in their treatment, including the choice of no treatment…” (Code of Ethics, 2015, p. 2). Because our patient is only an infant, he cannot make decisions for himself. For this reason, the right to self determination does not relate to him. Given that he is also a minor, gives his parents the right to decide for him, only if they are in a place that is. With that being said, which parent wouldn’t want their child to get better? But knowing that new treatments like gene therapy might cause complications such as leukemia; will they continue to follow through? Or will they give up hope? We, as nurses, cannot tell convince them in deciding either way. Our role is to dispense comfort and care to our patient and the family, even if they’re values are differ than