Gene Therapy - The use of DNA as a Drug Waghray Shefali1, Duddu Mahesh2, Narayen Vaishali3, Mamatha B4 1Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Panineeya Mahavidhyalaya, Institute of Dental Sciences Dilsuknagar, Hyderabad 2Reader, Department of Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry, Panineeya Mahavidhyalaya, Institute of Dental Sciences Dilsuknagar, Hyderabad 3Post Graduate Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad 4Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, Panineeya Dental College & Hospital, Hyderabad Corresponding author: Shefali Waghray, Senior Lecturer, 86, Gruhalakshmi Colony, Kakaguda, Secunderabad - 15, Phone: 9948436794, Email: shefaliwaghray28@gmail.com
Online published on 24 April, 2013. Abstract GENE therapy represents a fundamentally new way to treat a disease. The use of genetic material (genes), which can express a protein in the cell or interfere with the synthesis of a protein in the cell, in order to treat a disease, is gene therapy. Replacing a defective gene with a normal gene and thus restoring the lost gene function in the patient's body is the essence of gene therapy. Originally conceived as an approach to treat autosomal recessive Mendelian disorders, it is now being applied to a broad range of acquired conditions such as cancers, infections and degenerative disorders. With the understanding of the genetic basis of cancer, an entirely new approach to the treatment of cancer using gene transfer techniques has evolved. DNA is now slated to be used as a therapeutic agent to replace defective genes in patients suffering from genetic disorders or to kill tumor cells in cancer patients. Top Keywords Gene therapy, Cancer, DNA, Oral Science. Top |