الفهرس 
TchcniQut in MOlecular BiologyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Gene therapy is one of the most exciting and fast moving fields of . nedical research. The concept that genetic disorders and even some infectious, degenerative or malignant diseases may be amenable to correction at a genetic level is an entirely new approach to therapeutic intervention. From being a fanciful idea, gene therapy has progressed over the last 10 years to become accepted as a concept within the scientific and medical communities and particularly among patient groups with serious genetic disorders (Friedmann, 1995). ~ During the last 5 years, there has .been a proliferation in the number of research projects and clinical trials of gene therapy strategies for both single gene disorders and polygenic and multifactorial diseases. In its strictest sense, gene therapy can be defined as the introduction of a functioning gene into a somatic cell to reverse a genetic deficiency or to introduce a new function to the cell. Although this is a straightforward concept for the treatment of single gene disorders, it cannot be applied to polygenic or multifactonial disease. Therefore, the scope of gene therapy has been widened to include the use of genetic techniques to make cells susceptible to other drug treatments or to enhance immunological mechanisms against infectious or malignant diseases.