Gene therapy : the Wellcome Trust lecture 1993 / Marcus Pembrey.

  • Pembrey, Marcus E.
Date:
1993
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Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Gene therapy : the Wellcome Trust lecture 1993 / Marcus Pembrey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Hopes and Fears Whilst it is widely recognised that improvements in the treatment of genetic disease are desperately needed, many fear that 'tinkering' with our genes and the use of viruses as vehicles, or vectors, to deliver new genes to the body might be dangerous in some way for the population at large. We 'fight' germs, but such language seems inappropriate for genetic disease because our genes, whether faulty or not, are an integral part of our makeup. Informed public debate needs an informed public. When they ask about the nature of genes, how they work and why they fail, and how faulty genes might be put right, the appropriate information and explanations must be available. Simple analogies can help the teacher explain molecular genetic concepts and some examples are included in this booklet. Genes - How they work and sometimes fail Cells play a central role in the development and functioning of the body. In the end, gene therapy is concerned with correcting the function of particular cells in the body. OSOME 46 CHROMOSOMES ; 1 *^ | Hormones and other outside molecules DNA DOUBLE HELIX influence cell function DNA BASE SEQUENCE OF A GENE ■□□aOEEHOaiMtf BHOBDHHHBPElBBd