Gene Therapy
Gene Therapy is the insertion of genes into an individual's cells and tissues with a purpose to treat a disease. The technology has been used with some success even though it is still in its infancy. Gene therapy researchers try to improve the body's natural ability to fight the disease (or to make the cancer cells more sensitive to other forms of therapy).
Mesothelioma is a disorder resulting of both inherited genetic mutations and mutations gained through environmental causes. In the case of mesothelioma, the environmental cause is usually asbestos. There is currently being research done on battling cancer in a variety of ways: Missing or altered genes linked to cancer development may be replaced with functional genes in an effort to try to prevent cancer.
A composite of about 150,000 individual genes makes up a human being. Several years ago, an international effort was launched in an attempt to identify every single human gene. This effort was called "The Human Genome Project". It is expected to be completed after the turn of the century.
For the most common terms related to Gene Therapy click here
