Considered one of the most controversial innovations in the world of science, it is difficult to ignore the extraordinary benefits that gene therapy has to offer. With many potential treatments aimed at targeting some pretty serious diseases, a lot of support has been gained for this area. While gene therapy remains at the forefront of change, much debate has arisen due to several potential drawbacks. These drawbacks, however substantial, must not be overlooked because risking human lives is not a fair price to pay for healthcare reform innovation. Gene therapy is used as a way to treat or minimize faulty genes that lead to or cause disease. Genes are hereditary units made up of base sequences that provide the coding instruction for a protein. Different proteins are produced depending on what the specific amino acid sequence has encoded. Proteins can be different in size, shape and function. Many times, in the event of mutation, genes are transformed in such a way that the protein that is supposed to be encoded is not produced or is produced with inhibitory functionality, thus giving rise to a potential genetic disease. Therapy for this usually involves implementing new genes into cells to replace non-functioning or absent ones. This process involves a virus that is used to carry genetic information to the patient's cells. These viruses have been modified to find and detect specific problem target areas. To do this, scientists often use viral vectors or vehicles used as a form of transport for the virus. Avoiding toxicity in the target cell is the fundamental key for gene therapy to be successful. Some viral vectors have been shown to work better than others in this regard. Retroviral vectors use ...... middle of paper ...... and in the twenty-first century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Johnston, Josephine, and Françoise Baylis. (2004). "What Happened to Gene Therapy? A Review of Recent Events." Clinical Researcher 4: 11-15.Leiden, Jeffrey M., (2000). “Human Gene Therapy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Circulation Research 86:923-925. National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature (NRCBL). (2002). “Scope Note 24: Human Gene Therapy.” Available from http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcb l/publications/scopenotes/.Orkin, Stuart H., and Arno G. Motulsky. (1995). “Report and Recommendations of the Panel to Evaluate NIH Investments in Gene Therapy Research.” National Institutes of Health, 1995. Available at www.nih.gov/news/panelrep.html.Verma, Inder M., and Nikunj Somia. (1997). “Gene therapy: promises, problems and prospects”. Nature 389: 239-242.