Why has the promise of gene therapy so far proven to be elusive?
Biologists have learned that knowing what genes are connected in some ways to a given disability is not enough to tell us how to effect cures or improvements in the quality of life. Rather, geneticists are now focusing upon the critical role played by proteins. So far, proteins are proving to be very difficult to understand and virtually impossible for scientists to make. To take just one example, consider how proteins fold. The many ways in which they fold apparently are central to the roles proteins play. The state-of-the-art in biology is one in which scientists simply do not know how to fold proteins. This is why, to pick up on an example given in the book, it is one thing to know exactly what genetic mutation causes muscular dystrophy and something else altogether to be able to use that knowledge to prevent or cure MD.
