gene therapy

An evolving technique used to treat inheritied diseases. The medical procedure involves either replacing, manipulating, or supplementing nonfunctional genes with healthy genes. See also gene, genome, inherited, protein

An experimental procedure aimed at replacing, manipulating, or supplementing nonfunctional or misfunctioning genes with healthy genes. See also: gene, inherit, somatic cell gene therapy, germ line gene therapy

(jeen THAYR-uh-pee) Treatment that alters a gene. In studies of gene therapy for cancer, researchers are trying to improve the body's natural ability to fight the disease or to make the cancer cells more sensitive to other kinds of therapy.

Treatment that changes a gene. Gene therapy is used to help the body fight cancer. It also can be used to make cancer cells more sensitive to treatment.

The proposed treatment of an inherited disease by the transformation of an affected individual with a wild-type copy of the defective gene causing the disorder. In germ-line (or heritable) gene therapy, reproductive cells are transformed; in somatic-cell (or non-inheritable) gene therapy, cells other than reproductive ones are modified.