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Gene Therapy Analysis

I. Introduction
Throughout history, humans have always asked the question of why, for example, why do offspring look similar to their parents. The answer to this question was answered by Gregor Mendel who is considered the father of Genetics. Within the field of genetics there is a field called gene therapy or genetic engineering, which is, the scientific alteration of the structure of genetic material in a living organism.
II. History of Gene Therapy
Many scientists theorized that DNA and genes could be altered to create a specific type of organism, but none of them could actually understand how no it could be done. It wasn't until 1865 when an Augustinian monk named Gregor Mendel found that individual traits are determined by discrete "factors," later known as genes, which are inherited from parents. Mendel performed his tests on pea plants, and discovered the phenomena of dominance and recessive traits within plants. Through his experiments, Mendel proposed two laws: the law of segregation, and the law of independent assortment.
After Mendel studies in genetics slowed down, but in 1932 studies in genetic engineering were being done at the Sixth International Congress of Genetics. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Then in the 1960s, gene transfers were successfully completed within in bacteria, followed by the experiments in the 1970s and 1980s which made gene transfer in mammalian cells practical. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
III. Gene Therapy and Humans
Although many tests and studies have been doing for agricultural purposes, scientists are truly searching for a way to alter human genes. Cloning, reproduction, and eliminating diseases are the main reasons why the science world wants to attempt genetic engineering in humans. (Capecchi 34)
Cloning, this is making multiple identical copies of a DNA sequence. While cloning of humans as a whole is still illegal, there are many reasons that cloning is important to man. For example, hair loss is a big problem for many...