2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript
This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.
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Can you replace some of your DNA with DNA that you would want? Such as eye color, or hair color?
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Alan Guttmacher, M.D.:
I serve as the Acting Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development where I oversee the institutes efforts to conduct and support research on the health of children, adults, families, and populations. My areas of expertise include pediatrics, medical genetics, and the development of new approaches for translating the findings of the Human Genome Project into better ways of diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease.
Purposefully replacing one segment of DNA with a new segment is often termed "gene therapy." There are a few diseases - and only a few - that we currently no how to do this for. When this is done currently, it is only done to treat or cure disease - not merely to change some physical feature. Theoretically that would be possible, but is not doable today. When it is doable some day, there will be important ethical questions that both scientists and society will need to grapple with... |
| East Haven High School in CT (10th grade student) |
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