gene therapy 2 Flashcards
what is transfection
treating a genetic disease by providing the sufferer with a copy of corrected defective gene
what is somatic therpay
when the copies of the corrected gene are inserted directly into the somatic cells of the sufferer
what doesn’t it prevent and why
it doesn’t prevent the disease being passed on to the offsprings as it doesn’t affect sperm and egg cells
therefore what is the negative
need to be repeated, only effective in the short term and not effective in the long term
therefore what should be targeted instead
stems cells and undifferentiated cells so the cells divide with corrected gene
what are the steps for somatic therapy
the cells are removed from the patient the required gene is isolated and inserted into plasmid whichis inserted into virus the virus infects the person cells become genetically altered cells injected into patient
why are viruses good
as they enter the host cell and integrate their dna into the host cells dna
what is the strength of somatic thersapy
it is effective in the short term and less controversial
what is germ therpay
where the corrected gene is inserted into a fertilised egg
why is this permamnent
as all the cells in the embryo will have the corrected gene and will divide by mitosis
how does it occur
the therapeutic gene is inserted into a vector and treated in a culture and inserted in a nucleas less egg
creates genetically corrected embryo
what are the strengths
potentially more effective
all cells are accessible
not passed on
what are the weakness
safety and ethical issue like virus may cause autoimmune response
what is liposome therapy
when healthy gene is inserted into a plasmid of a bacteria and the bacterial cell is wrapped with lipid molecules formng a liposome
what happens to the liposomes
they are sprayed into the nostrils using aersoosl
