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| home : pages : what's new in medicine vol. 4 : fixing faulty genes : | |||||
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FIXING FAULTY GENESA British team of scientists have discoverd how defective genes could be removed from sperm and egg, raising the prospect that scores of hereditary diseases could be eliminated from mankind. This means that faulty genes responsible for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and certain cancers could be replaced by healthy ones before an egg is fertilized.Because such genetic changes are done before a sperm fertilizes an egg, the "new" genes will pass to subsequent generations, permanently altering a family's genetic inheritance. There are more then 4,000 hereditary diseases caused by defects in single genes. The key protein that controls genetic shuffling in the ovaries and testes has been identified . The protein, called RAD 51, can be used to "stitch" a healthy copy of a gene ino the position of a defective gene on a chromosome of a human sperm or egg. The researcher at the Imperial Cancer Resrach Fund's Clare Hall Lab in Hardfordschire, U.K. believe the breakthrough will improve the prospect of safe gene therapy on sperm and eggs. Twenty years from now it will be fairly routine. --> return to menu / back ... (click) --> return to top of the page (click) |
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