A Review on Gene Therapy

Gene therapy, also often referred to as 'gene transfer, ' uses carriers called 'vectors' to deliver genes to tissues where they are needed. Gene therapy is composed of two categories somatic gene therapy and germ line gene therapy. In somatic gene therapy, therapeutic genes are introduced to the diseased cells of a patient in hopes that they will genetically alter them to function normally. In germ line gene therapy, therapeutic genes are introduced to reproductive cells (egg and sperm cells) to prevent the manifestation of a genetic disorder before the patient is born.