GENE THERAPHY

Gene therapy is the insertion of genes into an individual's cell and biological tissues to treat disease, such as cancer where deleterious mutant alleles are replaced with functional ones. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it has been used with some success. Scientific breakthroughs continue to move gene therapy toward mainstream medicine.

TYPES OF GENE THERAPHY :
1. Germ line gene therapy
2. Somatic gene therapy

In the case of germ line gene therapy, germ cells, i.e., sperm or eggs, are modified by the introduction of functional genes, which are ordinarily integrated into their genomes. Therefore, the change due to therapy would be heritable and would be passed on to later generations. This new approach, theoretically, should be highly effective in counteracting genetic disorders and hereditary diseases. However, many jurisdictions prohibit this for application in human beings, at least for the present, for a variety of technical and ethical reasons.

In the case of somatic gene therapy, the therapeutic genes are transferred into the somatic cells of a patient. Any modifications and effects will be restricted to the individual patient only, and will not be inherited by the patient's offspring or later generations.