Gene therapy includes any manipulation of the DNA of a cell for the purpose
of changing the genetic makeup of the cell. Gene therapy has the potential
of altering the course of certain genetic traits that are identified with
certain disorders, maladaptations, diseases, etc. The progress of gene
therapy is, in part, determined by research and funding that is sometimes
questionable for ethical reasons. Ethical issues may revolve around
questions such as:
What is normal?
What needs to be "fixed"?
Who is to bear the cost of gene therapy?
Are we trying to play God?
Are we tampering with the Natural Selection process?
Practical issues are based on such questions as:
Can the gene delivery tool (often a virus) cause harm?
Will the gene insert into the correct place?
Will the gene be able to become active?
Will it function as a normal gene?
This is not a real link
The official web site of the Human Genome Project has some very basic
information as to the promise of gene therapy with many links to articles
concerning the practicality as well as the ethics of this process.
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml
From this page you can find recent articles about the state of gene therapy
research.
http://bioethics-today.group.shef.ac.uk/Oxford/humanmain.htm