A lot of health experts have been looking for ways to use gene therapy as a cure for a variety of diseases, but sadly, there hasn’t been any luck. It is the technique of replacing mutated genes with healthy ones to fight diseases.
Now a clinical trial for treatment for inherited retinal dystrophies, which is a very rare hereditary disease that affects 1 in 3000 individuals, succeeded as the first gene therapy approved in the US just last Monday. More information is discussed in this article by Andrew Pollack on NY Times:
Eye Treatment Closes In on Being First Gene Therapy Approved in U.S.
What could become the first gene therapy to win approval in the United States moved closer to market on Monday, when its developer announced that the medicine had succeeded in a late-stage clinical trial in treating an inherited eye disease that can cause blindness. Read more…
Gene therapy can also prevent hereditary diseases, and some studies even say that it can possibly treat cardiovascular diseases, aids and cancer.
However, it also has its risks. Some of these risks include:
- The immune system’s reacts by causing inflammation in the body.
- The healthy gene might be put into the wrong area.
- The healthy gene might be “too much”, causing more harm to the body.
- Other genes might be delivered to the cell.
- The virus might spread to other cells.
Still, people are rooting for this miracle worker to treat more diseases that still do not have a cure until now.
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