Need genetics help

[Zero Wing]

I was wondering about the different methods being tried right now in order to modify an animal's (humans, more specifically) genome (as an adult). Is the whole virus thing really working, or no? Is it going to have to be an over-hauled embryo who's stemcells you'll have to pump somebody full of to completely modify them? Nano bots???

 

Not at school at this moment, and the internet's way to big to narrow it. Could somebody help me with this?

[Bluenoise]

To sum it up real quick because I don't want to write an essay.

 

So far this form of somatic gene therapy has been somewhat of a flop. The virus thing has for a large part given people cancer when sucessful. Not to say it wont work in the future. There are just some serious technical hurdles to overcome first. This area has been progressing far slower than previously expected and will continue to do so for a while I think.

 

Other areas that have serious therapeutic potential have been advancing quite well like RNAi and gene guns, you might want to look at those. However these only temporarily add/remove a gene, something on the order of hours to weeks, as the additional genes are extrachromasomal.

[Zero Wing]

Cancer? So reproducing the cell at a decent rate so the new type can completely take over is too difficult right now? I always thought it was because the virus was for some reason unreliable in that the imune system would eventually catch on.

 

Or do I have it completely wrong...?

[ecoli]

It's not like there's only one problem with the system... you're both right, I believe.

[Bluenoise]

Well the major in-vivo problem with retroviruses is that they intergrate DNA randomly into the genome. So there is a strong possibility of disrupting a tumor suppressor gene or even overactivating a pro-oncogene. If one were to find a way to target specific sequences with a high-fidelity for retrovirus use one would have a major break through on their hands. Adenoviruses have much better targetting ability but then again they have their own slew of pitfalls.

 

The cause of overreproducing cells causing them to become cancerous (as zero-wing suggested) is more of an ex-vivo problem. I.E. taking the cells out multiplying them and then reintroducing them. There is a high propensity for transformation of animals in culture.

 

It's a very complicated area right now with lots of research to be done to solve the many many problems with every technique. And there are alot of techniques, it just not one really stands out yet as the solution.