HGP is 10: the gene therapy challenge

OxSciBlog has been building up to the 10th anniversary of the first draft human genome on Saturday with a series of articles looking at how different areas of research have been affected by knowing our DNA code. We talk to Dr Deborah Gill of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences who, with Dr Steve Hyde, runs a group hoping to develop a gene therapy for cystic fibrosis . Cystic fibrosis [CF] affects over 8,500 people in the UK and is the most common life-threatening single-gene disorder, says Deborah Gill. It occurs when two copies of a faulty gene are inherited together from a child's parents. Around 1 in 25 people carry a faulty copy of the CF gene, and if two carriers have a child there's a 1 in 4 chance of the child having cystic fibrosis. The loss of this one gene affects many of the internal organs, particularly the lungs and gut where mucus begins to build up. Children tend to be diagnosed with the condition when they fail to thrive as normal and it becomes clear they are having difficulty absorbing food from the gut.