Chapter 12, Problem S13.4CTC

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The process of how gene therapy may be used to treat human diseases.

Given:

Gene therapy may be used to treat human diseases.

Introduction:

The use of segments of DNA to treat or prevent diseases which are caused by gene mutation is the gene therapy. The DNA segments inserted contains a functional gene which will able to correct the effects of the disease causing mutation. For a variety of disease like muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis the gene therapy may be a correct choice for treating the genetic disease. Since the technique of gene therapy was developed in 1972, it has only the limited success in treating human diseases. Somatic therapy and germline gene therapy are the two types of gene therapy.