The Potential of Gene Therapy to Cure Diabetes Essay -- Biology Medica

The Potential of Gene Therapy to Cure Diabetes Abstract Gene therapy treats and prevents a disease by introducing a vector of genetic material into certain cells to alter the function or ability of a gene. The promise of gene therapy as a cure for diabetes has been considered ever since this new technology emerged into the clinical and research sphere. Although such methods have yet to undergo human clinical tests, gene therapy holds much potential to bring a radical new way of treating autoimmune diseases such as diabetes. By targeting certain genes that control the insulin and ?-cell production in the pancreas, gene therapy will someday fulfill its potential to cure the disease that is the number one cause of heart disease in the United States. This paper will explore the potential protocols and products that can be used to treat Type I Diabetes. Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that has affected more than 140 million people in the world. This disease, results from the attack of the killer T-cells of the immune system upon the ?-cells in the pancreas that produces insulin. (Lin et al., 2001). Until recently, this disease could only be treated with daily insulin injections and adherence to a strict, low glucose diet. With more than ninety percent of diabetics at risk for future complications like heart disease, blindness, and renal failure, diabetes has developed into more than just a medical issue. Diabetes is also becoming largely an emotional and economic issue. Victims of this disease have no choice but to adjust their lives around the only object that could change their lives?a daily injection that may cost 50% of the annual income in developing countries and up to 600% in non-developed countries. New technology th... ...ne Therapy, (10), 875-889. Grey, S.T., et al. (1999). Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of the anti-apoptotic protein A20 in rodent islets inhibits IL-1ï ¿ ½-induced NO release. Transplantation Proceedings, (31),789. Lin, Andrew, Cathy Huang, and Kendrick Ong. (2001). Type I AutoImmune Diabetes. Diabetes & Gene Therapy. July 21, 2005: http://dragon.zoo.utoronto.ca/~jlm2001/J01T0301B/index.html Nitta, Y., et al. (1998). Systemic Delivery of Interleukin 10 by Intramuscular Injection of Expression Plasmid DNA Prevents Autoimmune Diabetes in Nonobese Diabetic Mice. Human Gene Therapy, (9), 1701-1707. Rudolph, Frederick B., et al. (1996). Biotechnology: Science, Engineering, and Ethical Challenges for the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry P. Thule, P.M. and Liu, J.M. (2000). Regulated hepatic insulin gene therapy of STZ-diabetic rats. Gene Therapy 7: 1744-1752.