Gene
therapy is the insertion of
genes into an individual''s cells and tissues to treat a disease, and
hereditary diseases in which a defective mutant allele is replaced with a functional one. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it has been used with some success. Antisense therapy is not strictly a form of
Gene therapy, but is a genetically-mediated therapy and is often considered together with other methods. Broad
methods There are a variety of different methods to replace or repair the genes targeted in gene therapy. A normal gene may be inserted into a nonspecific location within the genome to replace a nonfunctional gene. This approach is most common. An abnormal gene could be swapped for a normal gene through homologous recombination. The abnormal gene could be repaired through selective reverse mutation, which returns the gene to its normal function. The regulation (the degree to which a gene is turned on or off) of a particular gene could be altered. Major developments in gene therapy 2007 is On 01 May 2007 Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London''s Institute of Opthalmology announced the world''s first gene therapy trial for inherited retinal disease. The first operation was carried out on a 23 year-old British male, Robert Johnson, in
early 2007, but it is currently (31 May 2007) too early for results.
More abstracts about the Gene Therapy-A revolutionary development inthe feild of medicine.