Gene Therapy | Community Health

Gene therapy is a medical technology that aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells. The first attempt at modifying human DNA was performed in 1980 by [[martin-cline|Martin Cline]], but the first successful nuclear gene transfer in humans was performed in May 1989. Since then, over 2,900 clinical trials have been conducted, with more than half of them in phase I. In 2003, [[gendicine|Gendicine]] became the first gene therapy to receive regulatory approval, followed by other approved gene therapy drugs such as [[alipogene-tiparvovec|alipogene tiparvovec]] (2012), [[strimvelis|Strimvelis]] (2016), [[tisagenlecleucel|tisagenlecleucel]] (2017), [[voretigene-neparvovec|voretigene neparvovec]] (2017), [[patisiran|patisiran]] (2018), and [[onasemnogene-abeparvovec|onasemnogene abeparvovec]] (2019). Gene therapy has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of genetic disorders and other diseases, and its development is closely tied to advances in [[genetics|genetics]], [[molecular-biology|molecular biology]], and [[biotechnology|biotechnology]]. As research continues to uncover the complexities of the human genome, gene therapy is likely to play an increasingly important role in the development of new treatments for a wide range of diseases, including [[cancer|cancer]], [[hiv|HIV]], and [[parkinsons-disease|Parkinson's disease]].