Gene therapy and enhancement for diabetes (and other diseases): the multiplicity of considerations

Gene therapy has reached the forefront of studies and research over thelast 30 years because of its potential for curing, treating, and preventingdiseases associated with DNA mutations. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are twoexamples of very common polygenic and multifactorial diseases. The hugeamount of scientific literature on this topic reflects a growing general interestin the possibilities of altering our genetic heritage and thus controlling theonset of diseases associated with mutations and relative risk factors. We havefocussed on the new treatment opportunities and possibility of enhancing anindividual’s health, physical well-being, and even an individual’s behaviourthrough technologies specially designed for therapeutic purposes, which havebeen presented in literature. This historical perspective shows how this typeof research, however, was immediately subjected to an ethical evaluation,especially regarding the decoding of the human genome and the questionsraised by the alteration of our genetic heritage through new biotechnologies.Moreover, understanding the limitations of gene therapy protocol experimentsand the multifactorial nature of many diseases, which have a genetic base,also contributes to these considerations.