The argument for gene therapy lies in the understanding of the genetic basis of human disease. There are an amazing 100,000 individual genes in the human genome. At the present time there is an international movement known as the Human Genome Project. The project will eventually provide an understanding of how each gene plays a role in human lives. The project will aid in gene therapy research because once scientists know what each gene controls, then the genes can be more easily manipulated.
Gene therapy is based on altering a disease at the roots.
There are two basic forms of gene therapy, somatic and germline. The first type, somatic gene therapy, involves body cells and is more scientifically studied and investigated in laboratories across the world. This type deals with the manipulation of gene expression in cells that will be corrective to the patient, but not inherited by the next generation. Germline is the second type of gene therapy, and involves sperm and egg cells. At this current point in time, very little research is being done with germline gene therapy compared to somatic gene therapy.