(Sylvester and Klotz 21). With all of the types genetic engineering on plants we can make plants that will grow and produce exactly what we want. Plants are no longer a mystery that our society is amazed in its being, but instead a simple organism that has very few secrets. .
Human germline manipulations are those made to the genes of our germinal or reproductive cells. In practice today, this means altering the fertilized egg, the first cell in the embryo to be, so that the genetic changes will be copied into every cell of the future adult, including his or her reproductive cells. .
Normally such changes would be passed to all future generations, although it may be possible to avoid that transmission. Germline engineering is not being performed in humans at this point. It's a procedure that would be far too dangerous for any responsible physician to attempt. It is, however, being done in laboratory animals such as mice, and it is quite a routine research tool with them. Mario Capecchi has pioneered these techniques by developing what are called knock-in and knock-out mice, where genes are added or deleted to try and understand their function. So germline engineering is something going on quite routinely today. .
Germline technology stands in sharp contrast to the genetic therapy of today, called somatic. Somatic gene therapy treats the soma, or the body cells. For example, genetic insertions to treat cystic fibrosis are directed at cells in the lining of the lung mucosa. Somatic interventions don't reach beyond the patient being treated, so their potential scope is much more limited than a germline intervention. So, somatic therapy aims at correcting defects in specific cells in patients already born with a hereditary disease. It is done by the insertion of a single gene into the somatic cells of an individual with a life threatening genetic disease. Somatic gene therapy is intended solely to eliminate the clinical consequences of the disease; the inserted gene is not passed on to future generations (Nicols 10).
