ABSTRACT
Somatic gene therapy refers to methods that insert an exogenous gene into somatic cells to provide the recipient cells with a desired new property. A new gene either may be taken up into the cell, a process referred to as transfection, or may be delivered into the cell by way of a virus vector, a process referred to as transduction. Delivery of genes to somatic cells could complement and thereby correct a genetic defect, provide the trans duced cell with a missing or novel function, modulate the immune response, or initiate cell suicide in the presence of certain drugs. In any case, the end result is to permute the genetic makeup of somatic cells by adding new genes that direct desired changes in the cell’s phenotype.
