Gene therapy: main approaches and biosafety issues
Date
Thursday, November 12th 2020 (10:00) - Friday, November 13th 2020 (12:00)
Language
English
Full programmeOrganised by
European Biosafety Association (EBSA)
Categories
Tags
Though the idea for gene therapy was put forward in 1972, it was not until 2003 in China and 10 years later in US, that DNA drug actually appeared on the market. Since then, at least nine gene therapies have been approved for a few cancer types, genetic disorders and viral infections and a great number of research projects and clinical trials are underway in many countries.
Instructors: Gijsbert van Willigen, Suzanne Loret
Target audience:
Laboratory professionals whose activities are involved in molecular and cell biology, including DNA recombinant technologies and cell transfection approaches
Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Professionals involved in the risk assessment of molecular and cell biology activities and gene therapy clinical trials
Any person interested by the subject
Learning outcomes:
At the end of the course, participants should be able to:
get an accurate understanding of:
gene therapy
gene therapy main approaches
gene vector
perform a risk assessment of gene therapy conditions (this capacity will be tested through a group work on study cases)
Prerequisites:
Basics Biosafety: pathogenic organism / genetically modified organism - risk group - contained use - containment level
General biology: basic knowledge in cell biology and virology
Molecular biology: basic knowledge about cloning - expression - transfection - transduction
The training will focus on:
the main approaches in gene therapy (using various gene vectors), with an attention paid on the biosafety aspects in research and development laboratories, as well as on the risk for the patient
the viral vectors used frequently in current gene therapy project, with the aim to point out their respective benefits in term of efficacy and safety
Participants will have the opportunity to perform a team-work risk assessment on case studies corresponding to current clinical trials.
CWA 15793 Reference
2.1.1.1 General principles of microbiology, biochemistry and cell biology
2.1.1.2 General principles of molecular biology and genetic engineering
2.2.10 Gene therapy activities