Kolata, Gina. “Gene Therapy Allows an 11-Year-Old Boy to Hear for the First Time.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Jan. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/health/deaf-gene-therapy.html.
The article “Gene Therapy Allows an 11-Year-Old Boy to Hear for the First Time” by Kolata Gina sheds groundbreaking information about a new therapy treatment targeting a rare form of congenital deafness by replacing the gene with a functional one. The boy, 11-year-old Aissam Dam, was the first person in the U.S. to perform this special treatment for his deafness caused by a mutation in the otoferlin gene. The treatment was a success overall at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Still, the treatment did not realize the factors that would limit his whole language development due to the learning window for speech after a certain age. Today, his hearing is expected after two months of the treatment.
The article connects with the biodiversity and genetic diversity of APES. The article does not directly mention anything about it. However, genetic diversity is a critical factor of biodiversity, and it could lead to helping or killing even more different types of cancer cells. Advancing engineering technologies that may treat or prevent more advanced diseases later on. Ethics might raise considerations for even more societal benefits, reducing potential risks.
I agree that we should advance such engineering technologies as a tool to mitigate and prevent future problems. I wonder, will the boy be able to “catch up” developmentally to those his age? Or will he be permanently stunted?