Fire and Knowledge

I’ll be quoting from Bill McKibben’s Enough over the next few weeks. Here are two terms you’ll want to know:

Somatic gene therapy: Somatic gene therapy begins with an existing individual — someone with, say, cystic fibrosis. Researchers try to deliver new, modified genes to some of her cells, usually by putting the genes abroad viruses they inject into the patient, hoping that the viruses will infect the cells and thereby transmit the genes…. [it is], in other words, much like medicine. You take an existing patient with an existing condition, and you in essence try to convince her cells to manufacture the medicine she needs. (McKibben, p. 9)

Germline genetic engineering: “Germ” refers not to microbes, but to the egg and sperm cells, the “germ” cells of the human being, the basic cells from which we “germinate.” Scientists intent on genetic engineering would probably start with a fertilized embryo a week or so old. They would tease apart the cells of that embryo, and then, selecting one, they would add to, delete, or modify some of its genes. They could also insert artificial chromosomes containing predesigned genes. They would then take the cell, place it inside an egg whose nucleus had been removed, and implant the resulting new embryo inside a woman. The embryo would, if all went according to plan, grow into a genetically engineered child…. We began doing it with animals (mice) in 1978, and we’ve managed the trick with most of the obvious mammals, except one. And the only thing holding us back is a thin tissue of ethical guidelines, which some scientists and politicians are working hard to overturn. (McKibben, p. 10)