09th December 2017, Oxford, UK.
Our genes are beautifully organised, precisely regulated and amazingly networked to maintain healthy cells and hence healthy bodies.
What goes wrong in diseases? What is gene therapy? Join us for a day school to explore this field and address these questions.
Searching for new therapeutic agents has always been the Holy Grail of medical research for both academia and industry. With the fast progressing advances in gene technologies and stem cell research, whole new classes of therapeutic agents have been under intensive investigations where genes and cells are themselves used as therapeutic agents.
We have seen good examples of how genes can be used in discovering new therapies such as the impressive gene therapy clinical trials for eye disease. Although this raises our hopes of discovering better therapies, there is also some hype about the practicality of this field. There are several obstacles in using genes and stem cells in treating patients (such as cost and finding efficient methods for therapeutic delivery).
In this one-day course, we will introduce the basics of the human gene biology. We will explore how genes can contribute to diseases development. We will then look at how genes can be used in discovering novel therapies. Finally, in a workshop and group discussion, we will address issues surounding the practical gene-therapies clinical applications and examine its efficiency, practicality, ethics and cost.
Published in GI-Mail 11/2017 (english edition). Sign up for GI-Mail here. Tip: More up to date educational events can be found online in the Education Database »medicine & health«.
