Human Gene Therapy: A Biopolitical Overview and Analysis

The benefits, risks, and social consequences arising from human gene therapy have received substantial citation in the literatures of medical, biological, ethical, and legal commentary. I argue that the question of what “public policy garb” best fits the parameters of human gene therapy in the United States and around the world is a quintessential political question, best understood under the microscope of political science analytic inquiry. I describe the nature of that inquiry, apply its insights to the various ends and means of human gene therapy, and posit empirical models of “political success” for the salient purposes of the craft. I focus particularly on the track record of the National Institutes of Health's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) in orchestrating the process by which human gene therapy protocols achieve official sanction.