Interviewee: Mario Capecchi. Mario Capecchi discusses the idea that someday therapies may be created to correct defective genes in egg and sperm cells. (DNAi Location: Applications > Genes and Medicine > Gene targeting > Possibilities Cell therapy (germline))

The other is what's called germ line gene therapy in which you would actually alter the gene, not in our own tissues but in the tissues of the eggs and sperm, which would then affect future generations. And there I think we aren't ready to think about that yet, because I think we don't know enough about the genes. I mean if you change genes in your liver it's more or less normal chemistry, you're changing things in the patient. If you change the germ line you're affecting future generation and therefore you would have to know everything about that gene in terms, before you're actually participating in those activities, and I think there we need a lot more wisdom than we presently have.

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