Stanfield Rogers: Insights into Virus Vectors and Failure of an Early Gene Therapy Model

Genetic management and treatment of human disease coalesced around vague ideas of “genetic engineering” by the mid 1960s. Early discussions centered largely on the medical, ethical, and policy problems associated with genetic screening, its applications to selective abortion, and the implications of a eugenic “slippery slope.” At the same time, research was beginning to suggest more interventional uses of genetic knowledge, that is, not just the detection of genetic defects, but ways to alter an organism's genetic content and modify the expression of the disease-causing genes.