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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Biotech Products and Bioprocessing

Gene therapy

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

nounCore term

In genetics & biotechnology, gene therapy means: A medical treatment that adds, replaces, silences or corrects genetic material in a patient's cells to treat or prevent a disease.

In Turkish: gen tedavisi, gen terapisi

How it is used

Used in medicine, biotech and regulation. Genes are usually delivered by viral vectors such as AAV or lentivirus, either directly into the body (in vivo) or into cells taken from the patient (ex vivo). Approved gene therapies exist for conditions such as spinal muscular atrophy and some forms of inherited blindness.

Example sentences

  1. The child received a one-time gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy.

  2. Most gene therapy trials for eye diseases use AAV to deliver the healthy gene.

Common collocations

  • gene therapy trial
  • AAV gene therapy
  • ex vivo gene therapy
  • approved gene therapy
  • vectorA DNA molecule, such as a plasmid or a modified virus, used to carry a gene into a cell, where it can be copied or expressed.
  • gene editingMaking precise, targeted changes to the DNA of a living cell or organism, such as cutting out, correcting or inserting a sequence at a chosen position.
  • stem cellA cell that can divide to make more copies of itself and can also develop into specialized cell types, such as nerve, muscle or blood cells.
  • germline editingChanging the DNA of eggs, sperm or early embryos, so that the change would be present in every cell of the resulting person and could be passed to future generations.

More terms: Biotech Products and Bioprocessing

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