Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation - Blog Science Connections

Summary 745
GENETIC THERAPY
The last session of the meeting was organized around recent developments
in genetic engineering of somatic cells, in particular cells of the
hematopoietic system. The main thrust in this area is on efforts to insert the
adenosine deaminase gene into adenosine deaminase-deficient bone marrow
cells and to bring it to expression. This approach would be of interest to
hematologists and immunologists, but perhaps not so clearly to oncologists.
However, the organizers quite rightly envisage that successful genetic manipulation
of any somatic cells may have attractive implications for the treatment
of cancer cells. When it was feasible to equip tumor cells with genetic
information that would counteract or compensate the genes responsible for
malignant behavior, an entirely new treatment modality could easily develop.
In this way, an excellent balance is achieved between work performed at
the bedside, applied research in the laboratory, and fundamental investigations,
the applications of which are still entirely speculative. The organizers
deserve our gratitude for such an achievement.
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