National Institutes of Health
- The primary NIH organization for research on Genes and Gene Therapy is the National Human Genome Research Institute
Genes are the building blocks of inheritance. Passed from parent to child, they contain instructions for making proteins. If genes don't produce the right proteins or don't produce them correctly, a child can have a genetic disorder.
Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. The most common form of gene therapy involves inserting a normal gene to replace an abnormal gene. Other approaches include
Although there is much hope for gene therapy, it is still experimental.
Genetics Home Reference
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)