Taking Control of Disease. (Diseases and Infection).(Brief Article)

Scientists have made exciting advances in the treatment of a disease called cystic fibrosis (CF). It's an inherited disease. Some people are born with it. A defective gene prevents certain body cells from working properly and causes mucus to collect in the lungs so that a person with the gene has trouble breathing. The mucus destroys lung tissue.

Cystic fibrosis is a noncommunicable disease, meaning you can't catch it from someone else. Not all diseases are spread from person to person. Not all diseases are caused by bacteria and viruses. Genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis are caused by defective genes.

Like many other genetic diseases, there is no cure for cystic fibrosis. However, there is hope. Scientists have found the gene that causes CF. They are working on ways to replace defective genes with normal genes. That process is called gene therapy.

In gene therapy, scientists first make copies of a normal gene. Then they deliver these copies to the patient's body cells by way of a virus. Scientists are learning how to alter and control certain viruses so that they deliver normal genes. An altered virus, which carries the normal gene, replaces the defective gene ...