GeneTherapy - Michael Kjome MCDB 3500 HW 5"Gene Therapy Describe the successes and failures of this approach in curing human diseases Gene Therapy is

Michael Kjome MCDB 3500 HW 5 "Gene Therapy: Describe the successes and failures of this approach in curing human diseases." Gene Therapy is the process at which genes are inserted into an individual ‘s cell and tissue to treat a disease. Mostly used for hereditary diseases where mutant alleles need to be replaced with functional ones. This is a very controversial topic since it is possible to target genetic enhancement toward a desired goal. One success of gene therapy is its use in Parkinson’s patients. It was found that in the first attempts to treat the disease the process reduced symptoms by as much as 70%. The injections were given delivered into the brain via harmless virus. In Parkinson’s patients treatment became apparent approximately three months after the injections. Another success of gene therapy is the use of skin cancer. It was observed in two patients with skin cancer, melanoma to be in full remission for eighteen month as a result of gene therapy. This therapy involves genetically engineering the patients own white