1. Nikita, Jenna, and Neil Towery

2.  We believe that the benefits of gene therapy outweigh the risks and losses far too much for clinical trials to cease any time soon.

3.  relatively new idea meaning that certain complications have not been solved yet  many do not trust field  isolated deaths and cases of leukemia-like cancer developing  trials sometimes paused due to setbacks  may give false hope  other (often unreliable) options available in some cases such as bone marrow transplant

4.  warranted action as everyone consents  advancement only possible with trials and similar methods  diseases being treated (which have few if any treatments available) justify aggressive trials  could potentially provide long-term fix for a variety of genetic diseases  history of more good cases than bad (7 to 2)  some types do not require viruses for gene dispersal

5.  trial centered on muscular dystrophy at Stanford University  could potentially provide a long-term solution  promising early results  gene inserted directly into cell’s own DNA allowing permanent correction  does not rely on virus and therefore aviods some key issues such as cancer and an immune reaction  seem to be no serious side effects

6.  trial centered on Leber’s congenital amaurosis  allows for gradually improved vision in the nearly blind  millions of copies of a working gene injected beneath the retina and into the back of the eye  no evidence that altered virus used to ferry gene into eye travelled to other areas of body  seem to be no serious side effects

7.  Patients (or parents) must be fully briefed on the risks as well as the benefits of gene therapy before consent is given.  Gene therapy cannot be used to “create” your perfect child, only as treatment for diseases.