Publisher's Synopsis
Encyclopaedia of Gene Therapy: Tools and Potential Applications, is to review the current status of the literature in the basic and clinical settings, and analyze future perspectives for gene therapy. Gene therapy has been associated with several problems over the last few decades. One of the main issues is the lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of the therapy and the field is fraught with ethical issues. If a person has undergone gene therapy whereby the DNA content of their body cells has been modified, there should be no way that the inserted gene can be transferred to the gametes. If this rule is not followed, the therapy could lead to heritable alterations in the genome that could be passed on to fu¬ture generations, rather than the effects being confined to one person. Most gene therapies are short-lived meaning patients need to undergo multiple treatments. Therapeutic DNA needs to be functional in the long-term and the cells containing it need to be long-lived and stable if the therapy is going to provide a permanent cure. However, difficulty integrating the DNA into the genome combined with the fact that many cells divide so rapidly means long-term benefits are problematic to achieve and repeated treatments are needed. Encyclopaedia of Gene Therapy: Tools and Potential Applications, is to review the current status of the literature in the basic and clinical settings, and analyze future perspectives for gene therapy. Gene therapy has been associated with several problems over the last few decades. One of the main issues is the lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of the therapy and the field is fraught with ethical issues. If a person has undergone gene therapy whereby the DNA content of their body cells has been modified, there should be no way that the inserted gene can be transferred to the gametes. If this rule is not followed, the therapy could lead to heritable alterations in the genome that could be passed on to fu¬ture generations, rather than the effects being confined to one person. Most gene therapies are short-lived meaning patients need to undergo multiple treatments. Therapeutic DNA needs to be functional in the long-term and the cells containing it need to be long-lived and stable if the therapy is going to provide a permanent cure. However, difficulty integrating the DNA into the genome combined with the fact that many cells divide so rapidly means long-term benefits are problematic to achieve and repeated treatments are needed.
