Gene therapy - The great debate
An information leaflet discussing the ethical, social and legal issues related to gene therapy, "Gene therapy - The great debate", has been published by DG XII (Science, research and development) of the European Commission. The leaflet, prepared by a scientific expert group supported by the Commission, provides a brief scientific background to gene therapy and outlines some of the major issues relating to its use. In particular, the leaflet emphasizes the important differences between somatic gene therapy and germ cell gene therapy. Somatic gene therapy only changes cells in the body of the person being treated and can not be passed on to children. This form of gene therapy offers great potential for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including heart disease, cancer and AIDS. Germ cell gene therapy, on the other hand, involves the deliberate insertion of a gene into the germ cells (sperm and egg cells which pass the genes from both parents to the offspring), deletion of a gene from them, or alteration of a gene already there. Germ line therapy raises serious ethical issues, since changes would be inherited. The leaflet argues in favour of providing greater priority to research and development of somatic gene therapy in Europe, both in terms of financial investment in R&D and with regard to training and the promotion of greater collaboration. It also recognizes the need to ensure proper controls (eg. banning of germ cell gene therapy) and to conduct an informed discussion on the ethical aspects of new genetics.