Vector

Gene therapy is known as the ability for gene improvement by altering genes usually for the purpose of treating a disease. A normal gene is inserted into a genome which then replaces an abnormal gene. There are multiple gene therapy protocols that have been approved for clinical use although some have been successful there is still a lot left to understand. Two specific types of gene therapy are germline gene therapy and gene therapy of somatic cells, the key difference being that using somatic cells so future generations can’t inherit it, which is not the case for germline gene therapy. Some difficulties that arise with gene therapy is that a vector is needed in order to release the gene into the stem cell. This vector is a very specific one which cannot elicit a response from the immune system and has to be able to be produced in a large scale. The vector has to express the gene for the patient’s entire life.