Cell and Gene Therapy

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy basically involves the introduction or alteration of genetic material within a cell  or organism with an intention of curing the disease. Both cell therapy and gene therapy are overlapping fields of biomedical  research with the goals of repairing the direct cause of genetic diseases in DNA or cellular population respectively. The discovery of recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s provided tools to efficiently develop gene therapy. Scientists use these techniques to readily manipulate viral genomes, isolate genes and identify mutations involved in human disease, characterize and regulate gene expressions, and engineer various viral and non viral vectors. Various long term treatments for anemia, haemophilia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, Gauscher’s disease, lysosomal storage diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and diseases of bones and joints are resolved through successful gene therapy and are elusive today.