<p> Sample Informative Outline</p><p>Name:</p><p>Date:</p><p>Title: Gene Therapy: It Can Save Your Life.</p><p>Purpose: To inform my audience of the new advances gene therapy has made in the research of </p><p> genetic disorders.</p><p>Thesis: Gene therapy is aiding the fight against diseases. </p><p>Preview: In discussing gene therapy, we will consider what it is and how it has made medical </p><p> advances in ADA, cancer and cystic fibrosis.</p><p>Type of Organizational Pattern: Topical</p><p>Introduction</p><p>I. Imagine yourself living in a sterile bubble for twelve years of your life.</p><p>A. You can’t go outside on a pretty day and run, feel the sunshine, or play a game of baseball or </p><p> softball.</p><p>B. You can’t touch people, not even your family, through your bubble.</p><p>C. You can’t go to school and meet friends.</p><p>II. For David, the “bubble boy,” this was a stark reality (“Bubble Boy” 51).</p><p>III. David had ADA, a genetic disease which prevents the body’s immune system from fighting</p><p> something as simple as a common cold or as serious as pneumonia (Griffin 779).</p><p>IV. David died from complications following a bone marrow transplant (“Bubble Boy” 51 ).</p><p>V. We have now developed gene therapy, a technique that can cure ADA and possibly other diseases in</p><p> the future (Culliton 429).</p><p>VI. In discussing gene therapy, we will consider what it is and how it has made medical advances in </p><p>ADA, cancer and cystic fibrosis. 2</p><p>Body</p><p>I. Let’s consider what a gene is and how gene therapy works.</p><p>A. Genes are often compared to “ladders.”</p><p>1. First, the 46 pockets of chromosomes in each cell of the body are the support of the </p><p>“ladders” (Griffin 784).</p><p>[Model 2. Second, when the “ladder” or DNA is unwound from the chromosomes it is approximately used here] 5 feet long and only a billionth of an inch wide (Freeman).</p><p>3. Third, the rungs of the “ladder” are comprised on four different kinds of bases which make </p><p> up the genetic code (Brownlee, Silberne 66).</p><p>4. Fourth, it is the sections of these rungs arranged in different orders from a few to more than </p><p> two million bases that are considered genes (Freeman).</p><p>B. The code of the genes determines what kind of protein each gene produces to maintain the </p><p> body’s health (Griffin 784).</p><p>C. Gene therapy involves preparing healthy genes and inserting them into the body where there are</p><p> defective genes (Carey, Hamilton, McWilliams 78).</p><p>1. A defective gene can develop from a mix-up in one of the three billion base pairs (Griffin </p><p>784).</p><p>2. Gene therapy aids these defective genes by making good genes and attaching them to </p><p> nonharmful viruses or “vehicles” that carry them into the body to produce the right protein </p><p>(Carey, Hamilton, McWilliams 78).</p><p>II. There have been many advances in gene therapy since 1990.</p><p>A. On September 14, 1990, the first human gene therapy test was performed on a 4 year old girl with</p><p>ADA in a complex gene therapy procedure, yet the medical procedure was rather simple (Griffin</p><p>779). 3</p><p>1. The new healthy genes had to be engineered by Dr. French Anderson and his colleagues, </p><p>Michael Blaese and Kenneth Culver, at the National Institutes of Health in Gaithersburg, </p><p>Maryland (Carey, Hamilton, McWilliams 78).</p><p> a. They began by removing T-cell lymphocytes which attacked disease in the little girl </p><p>(Griffin 779).</p><p> b. Next, they added healthy ADA genes into these cells and put them inside a “vehicle” or </p><p> virus (Brownlee, Silberne 69).</p><p>2. One billion of these good cells were given to the girl.</p><p>3. The blood infusion took 30 minutes (Griffin 779).</p><p>4. The results were encouraging since her body began making the needed protein (Carey, </p><p>Hamilton, McWilliams 79).</p><p>B. The second gene therapy experiment was conducted by Steven Rosenberg in Bethesda, Maryland,</p><p> on two people with malignant melanoma, a lethal skin cancer (Angier A1+).</p><p>1. The procedure in diagnosing cancer is different from that of ADA.</p><p> a. The procedure began by extracting tumor cells from the patients and inserting a gene that </p><p> produces tumor neurosis factor (TNF) which kills tumors (Toufexis 82).</p><p> b. Once again they were infused with 100 million cells in a simple 20 minute procedure </p><p>(Angier A1+).</p><p>2. There is another procedure being tested on laboratory animals that hopefully will cure several</p><p> forms of cancer (Carey, Hamilton, McWilliams 79).</p><p> a. First an antigen, which is a protein that provokes the body’s immune system, is added </p><p> to a liposome, which is the fat around a gene (Carey, Hamilton, McWilliams 79).</p><p> b. The genes containing liposomes are then injected into the tumor where they are </p><p> swallowed by the tumor, thus stimulating the immune system (Carey, Hamilton, </p><p>McWilliams 79). 4</p><p> c. The disease fighting T-cells are then released because of the stimulation from the </p><p> immune system which kills the antigens (protein that provokes the immune system) </p><p> and in the process kills the tumor (Carey, Hamilton, McWilliams 79).</p><p>C. Advances are also being made in finding a cure for cystic fibrosis to help those who might be one </p><p> of the 12 million Americans who carry the defective gene (Detjen).</p><p>1. Although there have been no human tests of cystic fibrosis gene therapy yet, Ronald Crystal </p><p> of the National Institute of Health and his French colleagues have designed an aerosol </p><p> through gene therapy that will help cystic fibrosis and other lung disease sufferers (Detjen).</p><p> a. The aerosol is composed of adenoviruses, or those that cause the common cold (Suplee).</p><p> b. The corrective gene is added into the adenoviruses which are the “vehicles” that carry </p><p> the gene into its proper place in the lungs (“Cold Comfort” 86).</p><p>2. This process of gene therapy stimulates rats to produce the desired protein; but, rats do not </p><p> suffer from cystic fibrosis so it is too early to tell if this method will be effective in people </p><p>(“Cold Comfort” 87).</p><p>D. Another process for curing cystic fibrosis is being found in the milk of mice (“Cold Comfort” 87).</p><p>1. Researchers at Genzyme Corporation in Framingham, Massachusetts, have added good cystic</p><p> fibrosis genes into embryos of mice (Silberner 73).</p><p>2. The milk from the mice is then made into an aerosol in which the corrective genes go straight </p><p> to the lungs to prevent the mucus build-up (“Cold Comfort” 87).</p><p>E. There are gene therapy experimentations on such medical problems as AIDS, cholesterol, and </p><p> other genetic disorders.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>I. As you can tell, gene therapy is a complex process that has made startling medical advances.</p><p>II. If only David could have waited in his bubble for six more years, gene therapy possibly could have </p><p> given him a normal life. 5</p><p>Works Cited</p><p>Angier, Natalie. “For First Time, Gene Therapy is Tested on Cancer Patients.” New York Times 30 Jan. 1991, A1+.</p><p>Brownlee, Shannon, and Joanne Silberner. “The Age of Genes.” US News & World Report 4 Nov. 1991: 64-67.</p><p>The Bubble Boy’s Lost Battle.” Time 5 Mar. 1984: 51.</p><p>Carey, John, Joan Hamilton, and Gary McWilliams. “The Gene Doctors Roll Up Their Sleeves.” Business Week 30 Mar. 1992: 78-82.</p><p>“Cold Comfort.” The Economist 8 Feb. 1992: 86-87.</p><p>Culliton, Barbara J. “Gene Therapy on the Move.” Nature 12 Dec. 1991: 429.</p><p>Detjen, Jim. “Aerosol Gene Therapy May Treat Lung Disease.” Philadelphia Inquirer 19 Apr. 1991. Newsbank, Science, 1991, fiche, 15 grid A9.</p><p>Freeman, Stan. “Human Gene Work Raises New Question.” Sunday Republican 3 Nov. 1991. Newsbank, Science, 1991, fiche 38, grid A14.</p><p>Griffin, Rodman D. “Gene Therapy.” CQ Researcher. Ed. Sandra Stencel. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1991. 778-95.</p><p>Silberner, Joanne. “Following the Blueprint of a deadly Inherited Disease.” US News & World Report 4 Nov. 1991: 73.</p><p>Surplee, Curt. “Nasal Gene Therapy May Repair Lung Disorders.” Washington Post 19 Apr. 1991. Newsbank, Science, 1991, fiche 15, grid A7.</p><p>Toufexis, Anastasia. “Using Cancer to Fight Cancer.” Time 21 Oct. 1991: 82.</p>