Gene therapy research may lead to trustworthy remedies

By: DAVID WHITE

Posted: 7/3/08

A promising advancement in the field of gene therapy research, conducted by Yan Geng, assistant professor of chemistry, may lead to a safer method to treat genetic defects and diseases such as cancer.

Gene therapy uses viruses encoded with alternate genetic information to change harmful genes that cause diseases. The study, headed by Geng, included doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.

Started in the spring, the study focuses on using synthetic vectors instead of viral vectors in gene therapy treatments. A vector is the delivery apparatus used to introduce the manipulated genes.

"Current gene therapy is still at experimental status and has not proven very successful in clinical trials due to serious safety issues with viral vectors and low efficiency with synthetic vectors," Geng said.

The use of synthetic vectors prior to this research proved ineffective without the possibility of improvement.

"Our research may lead to a safer and more efficient gene delivery technology that can significantly help the future of gene therapy to succeed in fighting serious diseases," he said.

In addition to laying the foundation for further gene therapy research, this development could also lead to more effective gene-based vaccinations and regenerative medicine.

"There are numerous application potentials associated with this research. With a safe and efficient gene delivery system, there is great promise to develop gene-based vaccines to boost our immune systems," Geng said.

The research team is working with the University Technology Transfer Center to connect with pharmaceutical companies to expand the scope of their research.

"Despite the promising early studies, there is still a long way ahead of us to fully translate this process into the standard procedure in gene therapy, and it is going to take a joint effort between the University and the general public to promote the welfare of this discovery," he said.