Gene Therapy with a Difference - Article Review Example

(I)  since the cost of research is high, what can do to make cancer treatments affordable?

(ii) Since most researchers are independent, can the government provide their individual needs to help improve their research activities?

(iii) How will government subsidies cost of research to ensure that the outcome benefit a large number of people?

Summary of the article

The article is about a successful treatment of blood disease using gene therapy in Britain. The article is a report of the research about gene therapy. So far, the researchers from Britain have successfully treated six cases of Hemophilia B using gene therapy technology. The success of the blood cancer treatment in Britain was an opened door for advancement in gene therapy. The author records the fact that Hemophilia B is one of the diseases proven treatable by Gene therapy. In past, few diseases have been treatable using gene therapy techniques despite the efforts in the field. Gene therapy has had many challenges after the death of patients in the process of treatments. Gene therapy involves restoring the destroyed gene through a replacement. The author praises the breakthrough in the gene therapy as an open door for the advancement in the field of science. For many years, researchers from England and different countries around the globe have worked tirelessly to prosper gene therapy. As a result, the success of the hemophilia B treatment was a motivation for research and hopes for application of the knowledge in treating different conditions. For example, many patients with different cases of gene mutation seek for gene therapy in England.

Reactions

The article reveals the developments in the field of science through the application of gene therapy. The author aims at helping people with hemophilia B get the information regarding the available treatments. Most people in the world die of strange conditions because of lack of knowledge of the available treatments. In this article, the author quotes the number of individuals that have been treated through gene therapy to encourage patients that doors are opening. The information in the article is chronological because the author began by introducing the meaning of gene therapy and provided a clear view of the field of science in the outside world. A reader can easily understand the information in the article because of a clear introduction. I feel that the author is not a scientist yet he has supported the research with articles from various scholars. The use of references and quotes from the works of other scholars makes the work look scholarly in nature. It is apparent from the article that the author intended to inform the public about the progress in the gene therapy technology.

The author used relevant vocabularies to suit the topic of science. For many years, there has been stagnation in gene therapy because of limited knowledge regarding the applicability. However, the author used the opportunity to communicate revival in gene therapy and the hope for the expansion in the application of gene therapy in health care. The information in the article is comprehensive. For example, the author introduced the topic, narrated the progress in the gene therapy, and explained how gene therapy has helped in the treatment of various conditions. Th use of example and supporting the research with work of other scholars makes the article believable. The conclusion of the article reflects the entire article. Some readers prefer reading the conclusion and to get a hint of the entire article.

Author: Andrew Pollack

Title: Gene Therapy with a Difference

Date: September 23.2013

Periodical in which it is published: New York Times

Questions to investigate

1. Since it is hard to avoid inheritable diseases, is it possible to protect the unborn from inheriting the gene?

2. Since gene therapy is advancing every time in the field of medicine, can it be possible for government to join hands and boast the field?

3. Will the research involved in the gene therapy help reduce the number of persons affected by the inheritable diseases?

Summary

The article is about the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The introduction part of the article is anecdote of a 12-year-old boy suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The 12-year old boy was under drugs for gene mutation to treat muscular dystrophy. According to the author, the boy is unique and his walking ability has not deteriorated despite his condition. The children with a similar case as the 12-year-old boy have lost their walking abilities and the majority move by wheel chairs. The case of Billy, the 12-year-old patient is unique because he takes the experimental drugs that the author believes to be helpful in reducing the effects of the disease. The author explained reasons for using the anecdote of the little boy as one way of exposing the milestones in the treatments of inheritable diseases. The article also contains an expression of joy by the scientist who hopes in discovering ways of treating other inheritable diseases. The process of identifying an effective drug for treating children with muscular dystrophy had encountered many challenges. One major challenge is the failure of the dispersed drug for treating muscle dysfunction. The failure of the drug has sent fears on the scientist that the application of exon in the treatment of patients may not work. However, the research from Sarepta Therapeutics has proofed to be effective following the discovery of eteplirsen drug. The eteplirsen drug is an alternative cure for Duchenne.

The Duchenne disease affects only boys. In America, most of the young boys are victims of muscular dystrophy. For decades, a scientist has used steroids to treat children muscular dystrophy. Reports from most of the health cares indicate that Duchenne causes cardiac and respiratory failure in boys. It is apparent that boys suffering from Duchenne are victims of gene mutations and lack dystrophin in their bodies.

Reaction

The article is informative because it tells the reader about Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The author demonstrated his understanding of gene therapy by incorporating in the article by compiling information from various scholars on the topic. The author uses many examples to show how many attempts in the field of science to apply gene therapy in treatments. The exposure of improvements in the treatment of muscular dysfunction gives hopes to thousands of parents with kids suffering from the similar condition. The article is a motivation to researchers responsible for the discovery of medicine for treating the Duchenne. The readers of the article are motivated to do research because the article contains names of researcher struggling to discover helpful medicine for the condition. The organization of ideas in the article is reflecting expertise in the side of the author. The author discussed each idea exhaustively and integrated ideas from specialists in the field. The author achieved the goal for writing the article after managing to reveal success and failures in the treatment of Duchenne.

The author understands gene therapy as evident in the text. The author successful integrated his feelings on the topic after revealing how parents are frustrated by the condition. In the article, it is evident that many boys are in wheel chairs because of the effects of the condition. As a result, the author expressed the need for scientific research to discover better medication for the condition. However, there are too many examples of the article and limited contributions from the author. The entire article is a compilation of anecdotes and past research in the field of science.

Author: Denise Grady

Title: Companies Rush to develop Utterly Transformation Gene Therapies.

Date of publication: July 13, 2017

Periodical in which it is published: New York Times

Questions to investigate

Now that research help save lives, can schools systems incorporate research subjects in the curriculum?

In the past leukemia has been cured, now can researchers provide a more precise way of diagnosis.

Now that Leukemia kills and research to discover treatments are costly, can there be other alternative treatment?

Summary

The article is about gene therapy for leukemia. In the article, there are hopes that a discovery for treatment of leukemia is a breakthrough treatment of different types of cancer. Some of the types of cancers frustrating the world population include lung, pancreas, breast, and prostate. The Universities and medical Companies are doing extensive research to find cancer killer medication. The article contains the various attempts by scientist to find an appropriate treatment for leukemia. Researchers are attempting to give cell treatment to young children and to search for samples cells to use in research. The author revealed how cancer patients are at risk of death because of the treatments process. At least 1.7 million cases of cancer are reported in the United States of America. The author draws attentions to the facts that the available cure for blood cancer is risky and causes second cancer and death of patients. In the past, the University of Pennsylvania has treated one case of blood cancer using genetically re-engineered T-cells. Novartis has plans to find an appropriate treatment for Lymphocytic leukemia, glioblastoma, and multiple myeloma. There is evidence that efforts are underway to help in the treatment of blood cancer. For example, companies plan are using ibrutinib and T cells to treat lymphoma patients.

Reaction to the article

The report in the article is positive and addresses the current issues regarding cancer. There is a chronology of ideas about the ongoing research in the field of medicine. The author gave a clear view of the cases of blood cancer in the United States. The author did a good job to expose the various efforts from different companies and universities to discover a treatment for different kinds of complications. The article seeks to capture attentions of the readers that blood cancer is a threat to the life of many individuals. The author used plain English language and therefore readers can understand the message. The author mentioned a number of companies and Universities involved in research to find medicine for different types of cancers. The information in the article is relevant to the topic gene therapy. The different types of cancer require the use of gene therapy in the process of the treatment. The article sensitizes the individual researchers to do research to find solutions to cancer. In my investigation, the article serves the purpose of compiling research from different medical research, and to give hope to the readers that cancer can be treatable through gene therapy. The article answered my investigation questions because I realized that the author has contributed much to the topic and inspires many researchers to do extensive research. Cancer is a killer disease and thus hearing the progress in medical research is motivation. However, the researcher has used many examples and thus there is a little contribution to the topic. The research did not give personal opinions regarding the research. As a result, the entire article looks like a report and theory as opposed to a scientific research.

Authors: Ibraheem, Elaissari, and Fessi

Title: Gene therapy and DNA delivery systems

Date of publication: 2014

Periodical in which it is published: International journal of pharmaceutics

Questions to investigate

Now that magnet can help deliver DNA to help in cell treatments, What can government and 2.private hos...