One of the latest breakthroughs in medicine, gene therapy is used to introduce genetic material to correct deficiencies of one or more defective genes that are the cause of an illness. Several different techniques have been developed for use with human patients, almost all of which are at the research stage.

The problem with illnesses with a genetic origin is that therapy must modify the cells of the affected organ. To reach all these cells, or a significant number of them, demands elaborate protocols or, as is the case for viruses, the use of nature's biological weapons to cause other illnesses .

Illnesses with a genetic origin are difficult to treat, since the organism has poorly coded genes and the fault is therefore present in all its cells. Cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy are examples of monogenetic illnesses that can potentially be treated with these therapies. Gene therapy has also been attempted on cancer and HIV infection, among other pathologies A definitive cure may be found for many genetic illnesses, but the techniques for gene therapy are still in the development stage.

NON-VIRAL GENE THERAPIES

Many are based on physical means such as electrical techniques. They have the advantage of producing material in vitro, which allows for a large transfer capacity not limited by the number of bases that can be transfected by a virus. The problem is that these methods are not efficient for reaching target cells in the organism. 

The most important therapies of this type are microinjection, calcium phosphate precipitation and electroporation (the use of an electric field to increase the permeability of the cell membrane .

Genetic solution: Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering applies technologies for manipulating and transferring DNA between separate organisms. It the correction of defective genes and the production of many useful compounds. For example, some micro-organisms are genetically modified to manufacture human proteins, which are vital for those who do not produce them efficiently.

Genetic recombination consists of integrating DNA from different organisms. For example, a plasmid is used to insert a known portion of human DNA into the DNA of bacteria. The bacteria then incorporate new genetic information into their chromosomes. When their own DNA is transcribed, the new DNA is transcribed such as human insulin. as well. Thus, the bacteria formulate both their own proteins and foreign proteins, such as human insulin.

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