Going deeper into 2020, we are left with more questions than we had answers at the beginning of the year. In particular, no one could foresaw the impact of Covid-19 to the world both on a medical aspect but also on a financial aspect. So far, 11.2 million people have been afflicted by this disease and more than 500,000 are left dead in its wake. Everyday, the pressure mounts to find a cure to the virus.
Though the virus blindsided us, the idea of a pandemic afflicting the world is hardly a new concept. Ever since the SARS pandemic in 2003, there have been increased efforts to counter any pandemic within a short period of time, should the need ever arise. DARPA, an agency tasked with the defense of the United States of America, have been running a program where it gives financial incentives to universities and biotech companies in order to find a cure for certain viruses under 60 days. in 2019, they held this 'sprint' where each participant were only given a blood sample from a survivor of the Zika Virus. What followed was a process of isolating the genetic instructions within the blood sample that had made the possible antibody and injecting the DNA into mice. Results were highly positive as the mice, which were given a gene shot were able to survive a super-dose 20 times the fatal amount.
Isolating genetic material from survivors of a certain virus and injecting it directly into others is the general gist of gene therapy and by theory it lends them protection against the pathogen. This type of gene therapy is called DNA-encoded antibodies and has shown promising results in animals. In a human, it would be injected into the arm or leg which would convert the muscle cells as a factory to create an antibody against the virus essentially giving the body a fighting chance. Though this might not be a fix-it-all, this solution provides a temporary immunity or at least lessens the severity of the disease for those afflicted.
As any other potential solutions with Covid-19, nothing has reached human tests. That being said, David Weiner, director of vaccine and immunotherapy center at the Wistar Institute has claimed to test anti-covid gene injections on animals. While conventional antibody drugs remain the most viable treatment option, those drugs are limited due to the need of specialized manufacturing facilities. This time, however, gene therapy may present itself as a cheaper option. Since DNA, which is an integral aspect of gene therapy, is manufactured in bacteria, doubles in number every 30 minutes, DNA is available and can be produced very readily for a largely inexpensive cost.
The cheap and speedy technique of gene isolation coupled with DARPA's planning may prove useful after all. Vanderbilt, one of the universities who took part in DARPA's 'sprint' were able to quickly isolate the genetic materials from the blood of Covid-19 survivors and sold it to pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Though made at great expense, if gene therapy finds solid footing in fighting Covid-19, it's most likely to gain all the financial backing it needs.
Despite this, there are still ethical and moral reservations with gene therapy. By itself, gene therapy can often have offshoots, and if mutations are inheritable this threatens the entire human gene pool and once a gene is placed in an organism, the process cannot be reversed. There are also concerns about the big-picture. Gene therapy may set a precedent for genetic engineering. Genetic engineering itself isn't an issue yet the possible usage for its technology may or may not lead to changing the fundamental aspects of our humanity: Identity and individuality. If we were able to harness the full potential of tinkering with our genes, it would eventually leave the realms of medical applications and venture in to aesthetics. Suddenly, we would be able to change the way we look and feel and that changes goes down to our genes.
The real issue here becomes the possible exacerbation in disparity between the rich and poor. Though gene therapy may one day be an accurate and surefire way to cure the next pandemic, access to it could be limited to the rich and successful. Though this article mentioned that gene therapy is cost efficient, time and time again we have seen pharmaceutical companies raise the prices of their life-saving products in order to gain profit. An example of this is the cost of insulin, an essential diabetes drug, and how over the span of 10 years, the prices has risen by 200% in US and there doesn't seem to be a decrease anytime soon especially with the economic depressions hitting firms everywhere in the world. Couple this with the millions unemployed, the real question shifts from whether or not a drug or cure would turn up. The question becomes whether or not we can afford it
Works cited
Gillet, Rachel, and Shayanne Gal. "One Chart Reveals How The Cost Of Insulin Has Skyrocketed In The US, Even Though Nothing About It Has Changed".Business Insider, 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/insulin-price-increased-last-decade-chart-2019-9?r=US&IR=T.
Regalado, Antonio. "Here’S How Genes From Covid-19 Survivors Could Help You".MIT Technology Review, 2020, https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/18/1004024/treatments-dna-encoded-antibodies-genes-from-covid-19-survivors/.
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