| Biotherapies are sensible answers to our illnesses: | | | | University of Pennsylvania in 1999. Gene therapy is |
| they use the substances and cells our body normally | | | | where doctors use dangerous virus’s to infect |
| uses to reverse the condition by mimicking the | | | | many cells in the body with a new set of DNA |
| behavior of healthy people’s cells In Australia | | | | instructions. This is a very sad story and these |
| these therapies are thriving; one of the more | | | | therapies obviously need to be regulated but, what |
| common therapies is to take some white fighter cells | | | | does this have to do with growing a persons own |
| from a cancer patient and vaccinate it to the cancer | | | | white cells in a lab and putting them back into the |
| inside the person, telling it hey this is what you | | | | same person have to do with these high risk |
| need to fight. The white cells are then grown in | | | | treatments? In terms of risk to the patient there is |
| the laboratory to larger numbers and reinjected into | | | | no comparison between gene therapy and organ |
| the patient. It works brilliantly with no side effects. | | | | transplants and white cell culturing. |
| This same technique can be applied to many serious | | | | The real major risk’ of re-transplanting |
| and chronic illnesses, such as Chronic Obstructive | | | | someone’s own cells back into them is to the |
| Pulmonary Disease and life threatening infections. To | | | | Medicinal Monopoly. The MM as I like to call it, earns |
| top it all off, often it is less expensive than the | | | | Billions off of its chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and |
| traditional surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and drug | | | | drug treatments’ for cancer and chronic |
| cocktail treatments. | | | | infections. These painful treatments often leave |
| This is great right? All they do is assist your body, no | | | | people infertile and ill for the rest of their |
| strange substances or uncomfortable side effects. | | | | lives-sometimes they don’t work at all and |
| Well, in the interest of safety’ these | | | | often they only keep the illness away for a few |
| therapies are in the process of becoming will tightly | | | | months or years before it comes back. The reason |
| regulated to a point that makes them overly costly | | | | the MM likes these treatments is because they have |
| and cumbersome to produce The culprit in Australia: | | | | to be done more than once and they encourage |
| the Federal Therapeutic Goods Administration. | | | | other medical problems which they can then treat |
| The TGA argues that treatments in this category, | | | | with their frivolous medications like antidepressants |
| such as transplanted organs and cells from a donor | | | | and prescription antacids. |
| that are mass produced and injected into other | | | | The good news is these treatments, although more |
| people are highly likely to spread infections and rot | | | | difficult and expensive to obtain, are still available to |
| because they are alive’. The other scare | | | | many cancer patients if they are willing to do the |
| tactic employed is the case of 18-year-old Jesse | | | | research. |
| Gelsinger who, during gene therapy trials, died at the | | | | |