GeneTherapyisanewtreatmentthatisusedtocureorpreventdiseases.Thenew treatmenthascomealongwayandisstillbeingrevisedbyscientists,tolimittherisks,when usingthisformoftreatment.Also,GeneTherapyisknowntotreatdiseasesthatnoother treatmentscould.Throughresearch,andtheannotationofcrediblearticles,wecantakeacloser lookatthesepointsanddiscovernewdetailsandfacts. GeneTherapyisaprocessthatintroducesnewgenes,destroysandswitchesout insufficientgeneswithhealthyonestocurediseasesorotherdefects.Currently,itisonlybeing testedtocurediseaseswithnootherknowncure(Article1).Itisdesignedtointroducehealthy geneticmaterialintocertaincellstocompensateforabnormalgenesortocreateabeneficial protein.Researcherstoday,typicallyuseavirustodeliverthehealthyversionofthespecific genebecausevirusesevolvetoreleasetheirowngeneticmakeupintoourcells(Article3).Since theyuseavirustodeliverthehealthygene,therearestillriskstowardshealthwhenusingGene Therapyasatreatment.Duetothisfact,thisformoftreatmentisstillbeingrevisedandeditedby scientistandresearchers.

In1990,GeneTherapywasfirsttestedinhumans,sincethistimeithasbeenadvancing tobeasafermoreeffectivetreatment(Article3).Today,researchershaverevisedtheirprocess ofintroducingthehealthygenebychangingthevirus.Before,researchersintroducedthegene throughaviruscalledAdenovirus(Article3).Thisvirusisalsoknownasthevirusbehindthe commoncold.Byintroducingthegenethroughthisvirus,intothehumanbody,itputariskon thepatientbecausetheviruscouldcausefurtherillnesses.Researchersrevisedthisprocessby introducingthehealthygeneinaviruscalledAdenoAssociatedvirus.Thisvirushasbeen studiedandfoundtohavenoknowneffectonthehumanbody,makingGeneTherapyasafer

treatment.Also,thetreatmenthasbeenadvancingtowherescientistscandooutofthebody treatment.WhenperformingOutOfThebodytreatment,researcherstakebloodorbone marrowfromapatientandseparatetheimmaturecellsfromthehealthyones(Article3).They thenaddahealthyformoftheimmaturecellandinjectitbackintothebloodstreamofthe patient(Article3).Theywatchthepatienttoseeifthebodyacceptsorrejectsthenewcell. Continualresearchhasbeengivingpromisingresultsandalthoughtherearenoformsof treatmentsintheU.S.markettoday,thepromisingresultstellusthisformoftreatmentcan literallycurehundredsofdiseases. GeneTherapyhascomealongwayfromresearchanddevelopmentstages,totests andtrialswithpromisingresultsandnotableadvances,tobecomeaneweffectivetreatment. ADASCIDisSevereCombinedImmuneDeficiency(Article2).FrompastresearchIdiscovered ADASCIDisalsoknownasthebubbleboydisease.Childrenaffectedbythisdiseaseareborn withadefectiveimmunesystemandarepronetoinfection(Article2).GeneTherapyextracts immaturecellsandinsertshealthycellsthat,forthetimebeing,keepthepatientaliveifthe patientsbodyacceptsthenewcells.Thistreatment,however,mustbedonecontinuallyand doesntcurethediseasefully.GeneTherapyisnotonlyusedasatreatmentforgenetic disordersbutalsoforacquiredonessuchascancer.Manystrategieshavebeendevelopedto treatawidevarietyofcancers,includingsuicidetherapy,oncolyticvirotherapyandtherapeutic genevaccines(Article2).ThewellknowndiseaseofcancerhastwothirdsofGeneTherapy trialsworkingtotreatit,andmanyofthesetreatmentsareenteringadvancedstages(Article2). Whilesomestagesareenteringintoadvancedtreatmentanddevelopment,othersarestillinthe stagesoneandtwosuchasthetreatmentforbrain,skin,liverandbreastcancer(Article2).Like before,theresultsofGeneTherapytellusthereneedstobefurthertestsandtrials,butthisform oftreatmentispotentiallygoingtocuremanydiseases. GeneTherapyisafastdevelopingtreatmentwithfewrisks.Manytestshavebeendone withthisnewformoftreatment.Itworksbycorrectingthegenesequenceinourbodiestotreat hereticdiseasespassedonthroughmeiosisandevendevelopeddiseasessuchascancer. ThereisnotellinghowfarGeneTherapywillgo,onlyhowfarithasalreadycome.Willthis treatmentfindawaytobemisused,likeotherdrugsandtreatments?CouldGeneTherapybe usedtoenhanceothergenes,likeourmusclecells,andgivepeopleanadvantageoverthe naturallygrown?ThereisnotellinghowfarGeneTherapycango,butfornow,thereisgreat hopeinthisformoftreatment,andfargreaterpotential.

Article1 "Howdoesgenetherapywork?."GeneticsHomeReference.U.S. NationalLibraryofMedicine,17Mar.2014.Web.19Mar.2014.<http:// ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/therapy/procedures>. Article2 "GeneTherapyforDiseases|ASGCTAmericanSocietyofGene&Cell Therapy."GeneTherapyforDiseases|ASGCTAmericanSocietyof Gene&CellTherapy.AmericanSocietyofGENE&CELLTHERAPY,n.d. Web.31Mar.2014.<http://www.asgct.org/about_gene_therapy/ diseases.php>. Article3 Nienhuis,Arthur."Howdoesgenetherapywork?."ScienticAmerican GlobalRSS.SCIENTIFICAMERICA,13May2008.Web.1Apr.2014. <http://www.scienticamerican.com/article/expertsgenetherapy/>.