1. Non-viral gene therapy / Sean M. Sullivan -- 2. Adenoviral vectors / Stuart A. Nicklin and Andrew H. Baker -- 3. Retroviral vectors and integration analysis / Cynthia C. Bartholomae [und weitere] -- 4. Lentiviral vectors / Janka Matrai, Marinee K.L. Chuah and Thierry VandenDriessche -- 5. Herpes simplex virus vectors / William F. Goins [und weitere] -- 6. Adeno-Associated Viral (AAV) vectors / Nicholas Muzyczka -- 7. Regulatory RNA in gene therapy / Alfred. S. Lewin -- 8. DNA integrating vectors (Transposon, Integrase) / Lauren E. Woodard and Michele P. Calos -- 9. Homologous recombination and targeted gene modification for gene therapy / Matthew Porteus -- 10. Gene switches for pre-clinical studies in gene therapy / Caroline Le Guiner [und weitere] -- 11. Gene therapy for central nervous system disorders / Deborah Young and Patricia A. Lawlor -- 12. Gene therapy of hemoglobinopathies / Angela E. Rivers and Arun Srivastava -- 13. Gene therapy for primary immunodeficiencies / Aisha Sauer, Barbara Cassani and Alessandro Aiuti -- 14. Gene therapy for hemophilia / David Markusic, Babak Moghimi and Roland Herzog -- 15. Gene therapy for obesity and diabetes / Sergei Zolotukhin and Clive H. Wasserfall -- 16. Gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy / Takashi Okada and Shin'ichi Takeda -- 17. Cancer gene therapy / Kirsten A.K. Weigel-Van Aken -- 18. Gene therapy for autoimmune disorders / Daniel F. Gaddy, Melanie A. Ruffner and Paul D. Robbins -- 19. Gene therapy for inherited metabolic storage diseases / Cathryn Mah -- 20. Retinal diseases / Shannon E. Boye, Sanford L. Boye and William W. Hauswirth -- 21. A brief guide to gene therapy treatments for pulmonary diseases / Ashley T. Martino, Christian Mueller and Terence R. Flotte -- 22. Cardiovascular disease / Darin J. Falk, Cathryn S. Mah and Barry J. Byrne

Genome editing is a powerful new tool for making precise alterations to an organism's genetic material. Recent scientific advances have made genome editing more efficient, precise, and flexible than ever before. These advances have spurred an explosion of interest from around the globe in the possible ways in which genome editing can improve human health. The speed at which these technologies are being developed and applied has led many policymakers and stakeholders to express concern about whether appropriate systems are in place to govern these technologies and how and when the public should be engaged in these decisions. Human Genome Editing considers important questions about the human application of genome editing including: balancing potential benefits with unintended risks, governing the use of genome editing, incorporating societal values into clinical applications and policy decisions, and respecting the inevitable differences across nations and cultures that will shape how and whether to use these new technologies. This report proposes criteria for heritable germline editing, provides conclusions on the crucial need for public education and engagement, and presents 7 general principles for the governance of human genome editing.

Nichols explores the potential for gene therapy and identifies those who are candidates for it. Having provided a biomedical background for understanding somatic cell gene therapy, she takes a thoughtful look at complex and sensitive issues surrounding ethical, economic, and policy aspects of manipulating human genes.

Recognizing the potential design complexities and ethical issues associated with clinical trials for gene therapies, the Forum on Regenerative Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a 1-day workshop in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2019. Speakers at the workshop discussed patient recruitment and selection for gene-based clinical trials, explored how the safety of new therapies is assessed, reviewed the challenges involving dose escalation, and spoke about ethical issues such as informed consent and the role of clinicians in recommending trials as options to their patients. The workshop also included discussions of topics related to gene therapies in the context of other available and potentially curative treatments, such as bone marrow transplantation for hemoglobinopathies. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

Heritable human genome editing - making changes to the genetic material of eggs, sperm, or any cells that lead to their development, including the cells of early embryos, and establishing a pregnancy - raises not only scientific and medical considerations but also a host of ethical, moral, and societal issues. Human embryos whose genomes have been edited should not be used to create a pregnancy until it is established that precise genomic changes can be made reliably and without introducing undesired changes - criteria that have not yet been met, says Heritable Human Genome Editing. From an international commission of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K.'s Royal Society, the report considers potential benefits, harms, and uncertainties associated with genome editing technologies and defines a translational pathway from rigorous preclinical research to initial clinical uses, should a country decide to permit such uses. The report specifies stringent preclinical and clinical requirements for establishing safety and efficacy, and for undertaking long-term monitoring of outcomes. Extensive national and international dialogue is needed before any country decides whether to permit clinical use of this technology, according to the report, which identifies essential elements of national and international scientific governance and oversight.

I entered the gene therapy field in the mid-1990s, being fascinated by the immense potential of genes as drugs for the treatment of human disease. Since then, I have experienced the ups and downs of this discipline, and tried to contribute with my work and that of my laboratory to the development of innovative approaches to the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. During these years, I have had several opp- tunities to speak on gene therapy at lectures and academic lessons, and have often noticed that the field is very attractive to scientists of all disciplines. However, as yet no comprehensive book on the subject has been published. Indeed, most books in the field are either a collection of gene transfer laboratory protocols or deal with the subject in a rather superficial manner. Hence the idea to write a gene therapy textbook that is broad and comprehensive, but at the same time provides sufficient molecular and clinical detail to be of interest to students, professors, and specialists in the various disciplines that contribute to gene therapy. I have tried to keep the language plain and, whenever possible, non-technical. Since the book is intended to be a textbook in the field of gene therapy in both the basic science and clinical areas, whenever technical descriptions are required, they are provided.

The idea of human gene therapy was accepted by the medical community and society at large long before believable clinical benefits began to emerge. In this book, some of the fields most distinguished contributors chronicle the evolution of this momentous direction for medicine, illustrating how imaginative concepts shaped the development of technologies and brought the daring new idea to its current position of imminent practical success. This is a book designed to endure as clinical advances accumulate, a clear-eyed work of reference that will anchor the further development of this revolution in therapy. It is an essential addition to libraries of clinical medicine, biotechnology, and public policy, and a resource that no laboratory investigator with an interest in the biology of gene transfer should be without.