Evolution of Ethical Debate about Human Gene Therapy

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Abstract
Ethical issues generally evolve through four stages: threshold, open conflict, extended debate, and adaptation. The history of the ethical debate on human gene therapy is examined. The threshold was the Nirenberg appeal in 1967. The open conflict centered around two early controversial cases: those of Rogers and Cline. The extended debate has lasted from 1980 to the present, but now adaptation, i.e., a public policy, for somatic cell gene therapy is emerging. The ethical debate on human gene therapy has a long history. Fletcher examines this history and explains how the various events that have occurred can be interpreted as fitting into specific evolutionary stages of the debate. Somatic cell gene therapy is reaching the final stage of its history as an ethical issue, while the discussion of germ-line gene therapy and enhancement genetic engineering is still in the early stages.

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