Biology AS doubts.

[Loodynagy]

Hello.

Well I'm struggling with biology. It's literally killing me.
Anyway, whether you're taking it Cambridge or IAL, I'd be glad if you could help me.

To begin with, I do not understand gene therapy, so if you could do me a favor, please explain it to me ._.



Meh..be grateful if you scored a B* (great -.- )

 

[saifulahmed49]

Hello.

Well I'm struggling with biology. It's literally killing me.
Anyway, whether you're taking it Cambridge or IAL, I'd be glad if you could help me.

To begin with, I do not understand gene therapy, so if you could do me a favor, please explain it to me ._.



Meh..be grateful if you scored a B* (great -.- )

Why don't you Google it? You'll find a lot of information there.

 

[Loodynagy]

Why don't you Google it? You'll find a lot of information there.

hmm I did google it, but I think a simple explanation would help me. I find stuff on google very detailed and difficult to understand.

 

[saifulahmed49]

hmm I did google it, but I think a simple explanation would help me. I find stuff on google very detailed and difficult to understand.

http://www.s-cool.co.uk/a-level/biology/applications-of-genetic-engineering/revise-it/gene-therapy
lemme know if you find anything difficult to understand.

 

[Blueberryavalanche47]

I can help you If you have a CGP guide, it will help you a lot. But I'll explain it to you anyway:
So, the first thing you need to know about Gene Therapy is what it is... Gene Therapy is the process in which genetic disorders are prevented and cured using different methods by changing the alleles inside cells BUT it depends on whether it is caused by a recessive allele or if it is caused by a dominant allele. If it is caused by two recessive alleles (for example cystic fibrosis ff) then... what you do here is just take one of the recessive alleles and replace it with a dominant one like Ff so it won't work. If it is caused by a DOMINANT allele then you just put a little of DNA in the middle of the two alleles and it won't work (weird right?).

Ok, now you have your altered alleles but now, how to you put it back in the body?
There are a few methods you can use to put it back... You could use VECTORS (these are things that place it back in the body). An example of a few vectors are: LIPOSOMES (spheres made from lipids) or PLASMIDS (rings of bacterial DNA).

Finally, the LAST thing you need to know are the two types of GENE THERAPY:

1) SOMATIC THERAPY:
this therapy involves ONLY changing alleles in BODY cells. So you take a body cell out (for example in Cystic Fibrosis, take out your sample from the epithelial lung cells because CF affects this area). The problem with this method is that it is that offspring will still have the disease because it doesn't affect sex cells, only the somatic (body) cells.

2) GERM LINE THERAPY:
this therapy involves changing the alleles in SEX CELLS so that even a person's children and offspring will NOT be affected by the illness or disease! One problem is that this method is illegal now so people can not use it...

THATS ALL
if you need help with anything else I can help you

 

[Loodynagy]

I can help you If you have a CGP guide, it will help you a lot. But I'll explain it to you anyway:
So, the first thing you need to know about Gene Therapy is what it is... Gene Therapy is the process in which genetic disorders are prevented and cured using different methods by changing the alleles inside cells BUT it depends on whether it is caused by a recessive allele or if it is caused by a dominant allele. If it is caused by two recessive alleles (for example cystic fibrosis ff) then... what you do here is just take one of the recessive alleles and replace it with a dominant one like Ff so it won't work. If it is caused by a DOMINANT allele then you just put a little of DNA in the middle of the two alleles and it won't work (weird right?).

Ok, now you have your altered alleles but now, how to you put it back in the body?
There are a few methods you can use to put it back... You could use VECTORS (these are things that place it back in the body). An example of a few vectors are: LIPOSOMES (spheres made from lipids) or PLASMIDS (rings of bacterial DNA).

Finally, the LAST thing you need to know are the two types of GENE THERAPY:

1) SOMATIC THERAPY:
this therapy involves ONLY changing alleles in BODY cells. So you take a body cell out (for example in Cystic Fibrosis, take out your sample from the epithelial lung cells because CF affects this area). The problem with this method is that it is that offspring will still have the disease because it doesn't affect sex cells, only the somatic (body) cells.

2) GERM LINE THERAPY:
this therapy involves changing the alleles in SEX CELLS so that even a person's children and offspring will NOT be affected by the illness or disease! One problem is that this method is illegal now so people can not use it...

THATS ALL
if you need help with anything else I can help you

Thank you so muchhh!

 

[Ysph06]

Finally, the LAST thing you need to know are the two types of GENE THERAPY:

1) SOMATIC THERAPY:
this therapy involves ONLY changing alleles in BODY cells. So you take a body cell out (for example in Cystic Fibrosis, take out your sample from the epithelial lung cells because CF affects this area). The problem with this method is that it is that offspring will still have the disease because it doesn't affect sex cells, only the somatic (body) cells.

2) GERM LINE THERAPY:
this therapy involves changing the alleles in SEX CELLS so that even a person's children and offspring will NOT be affected by the illness or disease! One problem is that this method is illegal now so people can not use it...

THATS ALL
if you need help with anything else I can help you

Uh, no?
Somatic cell gene therapy means genetically altering specific body (somatic) cells in order to treat the disease. But any genetic differences will NOT be passed to the offspring.
Germ line therapy means genetically altering cells such as sperm cells, ova, sperm/ova precursor cells, zygotes, early embryos..that will pass their genes down the germ line to future generations. Alterations to any of these cells will affect EVERY cell in the resulting human, AND in all his/her offsprings.

Also CF does NOT necessarily affect the lungs, CF affects the digestive system, sweat glands and even the reproductive system. Not just the respiratory system.

Atleast give the right information if you're going to help someone!