Gene therapy may offer cures for inherited diseases and, perhaps, improve quality of life. Distinguish between somatic and germ line therapy.

Discuss risks of gene therapy.

somatic (gene therapy) involves changes to body cells whereas germ line (gene therapy) involves changes to egg cells/gametes;
somatic cell changes are not passed on to offspring whereas germ line changes may be passed on to offspring;
somatic cell genes affect only a small proportion of the total cells in a body whereas the changes to germ line cells will be passed on to all cells of the offspring (as it develops);

prevents/reduces symptoms of a disease so taking the risk is worthwhile;
immune response to the vector may cause damage to the recipient;
long-term effects to the patient are unknown;
impact on offspring of the treated person is unknown;
risk of “designer babies” which poses risks to social norms;
risk of consent during research trials being uninformed / other reasonable answer about research trials;

Candidates had some trouble distinguishing between the two types of therapies.

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