Advantages and Disadvantages of Gene Therapy

It is considered to be one of the most controversial issues in the scientific community and it is difficult to overlook the amazing advantages of gene therapy. This field has gained a lot of support as many potential treatments are targeting quite serious diseases. Gene therapy is still at the forefront of change, but there have been many discussions due to some potential drawbacks. No matter how important these shortcomings are, they can not be ignored. The danger of life is not a fair price for medical reform and innovation.

Gene therapy has attracted scientists and non scientists all over the world in 2017, but there are good reasons for it. Unlike drugs and surgery, gene therapy changes the patient's DNA. Please know the cure. In an interview with the recent famous geneticist George Church, he predicted "gene therapy will be one of the most accurate and safest mechanisms we have".

The premise of gene therapy is based on diseases - abnormal genes that modify their roots. There are basically two forms of gene therapy, one of which is called somatic cell gene therapy. Somatic gene therapy involves manipulating intracellular gene expression, which corrects the patient, but not to the next generation. This is a type of gene therapy currently being investigated in the Human Gene Therapy Institute and other laboratories around the world. Another form of gene therapy is called germline gene therapy, which involves genetic modification of germ cells and inherits changes to the next generation. For technical and ethical reasons, there is little (if any) research currently undergoing germline intervention.

Gene therapy uses DNA as a drug for treating diseases. Gene therapy was originally conceptualized in 1972 and the authors urged attention before starting gene research on humans. The first FDA approved gene therapy trial in the US was held in 1990. This is a 4 year old girl named Ashanti DeSilva who received ADA - SCID treatment. This is a disease that prevents her from fighting infection. Dr. W French Anderson is the principal investigator of clinical trials and works at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Laboratory. Since then, more than 1,700 clinical trials have been performed using a variety of gene therapy technologies.