Word: either
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Gene therapy, simply defined, is the placement of beneficial genes into the cells of patients. By introducing the gene and consequently the protein it produces, says Inder Verma, a professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., "you either eliminate the defect, ameliorate the defect, slow down the progression of the disease or in some way interfere with the disease...
...Wilson predicts that the next advance will be a mechanism built into the vector to regulate the expression of a therapeutic gene, turning it on or off. "Most diseases and most drugs require modifying the dose," he explains, "but the genes carried into cells by currently used vectors are either...
Geneticists estimate that there are 2,000 to 5,000 genes that either cause, or predispose humans to, various diseases. In practical terms, that means there will be many, many more potential avenues of research than the entire pharmaceutical industry could possibly hope to investigate over the next 20 years. Each company has a different strategy for exploiting that bonanza, and most are more than happy to tell you what's wrong with the other guy's approach. But they all agree on a few key points...
Whereas traditional drug companies focus on developing chemical compounds, the biotech industry prefers to use biological ones--hormones, proteins and other substances that either already exist in the body or can be created from scratch. Examples include interferon, the clot buster tPA and the new breast-cancer drug Herceptin...
...into soil bacteria. When the bacteria are taken up by the plant, therapeutic DNA material is stitched into the plant's genome. Another method of getting genes into plants is to coat tiny particles of tungsten or gold with foreign DNA, then shoot the particles directly into plant cells. Either way, the plant's cells start to produce whatever proteins the new genes are designed to make. Immunization begins when the plant or its fruit is eaten, prompting the body to churn out the appropriate antibodies...