Gene Therapy: The Future of Medicine and How It Works

Gene therapy is the use of DNA as a treatment to cure or manage various diseases. The DNA, which can be injected into cells in the body, can be used to help repair damaged genes. Gene therapy has been around since the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2009 that its potential was shown in humans with severe combined immunodeficiency. Today gene therapy is being studied for use in many different conditions, including cancer and blood disorders.

There are two main types of gene therapies: somatic cell gene therapy and germline gene therapy. Somatic cell gene therapy only affects the individual who has undergone treatment and their children will not have any changes passed on to them. Germline gene therapy includes eggs or sperm cells which will affect all future generations.

Find out more about this new way of living in today’s digital era here!

What is gene therapy?

Gene therapy is the use of DNA as a treatment to cure or manage various diseases. The DNA, which can be injected into cells in the body, can be used to help repair damaged genes. Gene therapy has been around since the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2009 that its potential was shown in humans with severe combined immunodeficiency. Today gene therapy is being studied for use in many different conditions, including cancer and blood disorders.

Pros and cons of gene therapy

Gene therapy has many benefits to offer, but also some drawbacks.

The benefits of gene therapy are that people with diseases that are incurable by other means of treatment can find hope in gene therapy. And because it is designed for the individual, the patient’s risk of developing any serious adverse reactions is low.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages to gene therapy. One major one is that it may not be available for all patients who could benefit from it. It is still unknown whether gene therapy will work for everyone, so not everyone can try it out. For example, some adults with severe combined immunodeficiency cannot have this type of treatment because they have already had cells in their body altered through another type of treatment called bone marrow transplantation. Another disadvantage is that doctors don’t know how effective gene therapies will remain over time and if the benefits last or diminish over time. Lastly, gene therapies cost more than traditional methods, which can be a burden on patients with already limited incomes or insurance coverage.

For these reasons and more, many scientists believe that there needs to be more research done before genetic engineering can be used widely in hospitals and clinics. But with the promising results observed by doctors so far, who knows- maybe someday we’ll live in a world without any harmful diseases!

How gene therapy works?

Gene therapy is the use of DNA as a treatment to cure or manage various diseases. The DNA, which can be injected into cells in the body, can be used to help repair damaged genes. Gene therapy has been around since the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2009 that its potential was shown in humans with severe combined immunodeficiency. Today gene therapy is being studied for use in many different conditions, including cancer and blood disorders. There are two main types of gene therapies: somatic cell gene therapy and germline gene therapy. Somatic cell gene therapy only affects the individual who has undergone treatment and their children will not have any changes passed on to them. Germline gene therapy includes eggs or sperm cells which will affect all future generations.

Who can undergo gene therapy treatment?

Gene therapy is not just for the terminally ill, it’s also for people who may not be so close to death and can still benefit from it. It has been used in cases where a person has a genetic disease and it is passed on through their genes.

But gene therapy can also be used in children before they even show any signs of an illness. This way the disease won’t progress and the child doesn’t need to take medication for it either.

It’s up to you if you want to undergo this treatment or not, but don’t underestimate the power of gene therapy!

Somatic cell gene therapy

Somatic cell gene therapy only affects the individual who has undergone treatment and their children will not have any changes passed on to them.

Germline gene therapy

Somatic gene therapy is a type of gene therapy in which genes are directly manipulated inside the body. The DNA, which can be injected into cells in the body, can be used to help repair damaged genes. Somatic cell gene therapy only affects the individual who has undergone treatment and their children will not have any changes passed on to them. Germline gene therapy includes eggs or sperm cells which will affect all future generations.

Side effects of the gene therapy procedure

The process of gene therapy is not without risks. The body will try to reject the new gene, and in some cases, it may cause cancer.

For this reason, scientists are only using the treatment in severe conditions when all other treatments have failed, like severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

Conclusion

Gene therapy is a promising field of medical research, but also one that faces many challenges. Deciding whether or not to undergo gene therapy is not an easy task. To help you decide, we’ve outlined the benefits and drawbacks of gene therapy, including what causes the side effects.

We hope this article has helped you better understand gene therapy and its potential benefits.

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