Science Runs and the Debate Brakes: Somatic Gene-Editing as a New Tool for Gender-Specific Medicine in Alzheimer’s Disease

Brain Sciences

Silvia Zullo¹  Luciana Caenazzo²  Pamela Tozzo² 

[1] Department of Legal Studies, University of Bologna, 40121 Bologna, Italy;Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, University of Padova, Via Falloppio 50, 35121 Padova, Italy;

关键词: Alzheimer’s disease;    ethics;    genders;    health and new technologies;    somatic gene-editing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/brainsci10070421

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Gender-specific medicine is a discipline that studies the influence of sex and gender on physiology, pathophysiology, and diseases. One example in light of how a genetic-based disease among other diseases, that impact on sex, can be represented by the risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. The question that comes into focus is whether gene-editing can represent a new line of investigation to be explored in the development of personalized, gender-specific medicine that guarantees gender equity in health policies. This article aims to discuss the relevance of adopting a gender-specific focus on gene-editing research, considered as a way of contributing to the advance of medicine’s understanding, treatment, and prevention of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. The development or improvement of cures could take advantage of the knowledge of the gender diversity in order to ascertain and develop differential interventions also at the genetic level between women and men, and this deserves special attention and deep ethical reflection.

【 授权许可】

Unknown