Gene Therapy, a new tool to cure human diseases
Gene therapy injects genetic materials into the living cells of a patient to cure disease. Usually the gene therapy involves replacing a mutated gene with a normal one. Another variant is injecting an artificial gene that causes therapeutic proteins to be produced in the tissues.
Current Status[]
Gene therapy is primarily in the experimental stage. It was only in 2012 that the first gene therapy, Glybera , was approved in the EU. This was the first gene therapy to be approved in either the United States or Europe.
In 1999 the early 2000s, problems with gene therapy (including one death) caused many to dismiss the potential of gene therapy as hype. However, successful experiments from 2006-2012 changed this attitude, and today there are numerous calls for more funding in this field.