Genetic Therapy: The Limitations Of Gene Therapy

The human genome can be described as a set of genetic instructions also known as an organism’s set of DNA, which allow a human being to grow and develop. There are approximately more than 3 billion DNA pairs within an entire genome, containing millions of cells, which all carry various instructions. Inside of our DNA, there is a unique chemical code, which determines our growth, development, and health. This specific code is derived by four nucleotide bases that conform the DNA. These are called, adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine and are often represented as A, C, G, and T. In 1990, the Human Genome Project was conducted by the National Institutes of Health, and the US Department of Energy. This project allowed the understanding of the human genome sequence composition, and the functions of genes. This knowledge completely revolutionised the fields of medicine, as treatments for …show more content…
Gene therapy has been researched and studied for decades, however it has only ever reached a partial amount of success. It’s very difficult to introduce new genes to the body, just like it’s incredibly complicated to keep them within the body over a required period of time. The main points that will be addressed about the limitations of gene therapy will be, gene delivery, and activation, immune response, disrupting important genes in target cells, and commercial viability. In the aspect of gene delivery and activation, it is crucial for the altered genes to reach its proper destination, since bringing a gene to the wrong cells could cause various medical issues and health problems to the patient. This brings us to more questions, as once the gene reaches its destination, it must be activated, and remain at that state for a certain period of time. Unfortunately, unnatural behaviour from genes may cause the cells to shut down the gene, which is another vital issue in gene