Gene therapy artificial chromosomes

In this postmodern approach to pharmaceuticals, chemistry is in a pole position for the construction of artificial chromosomes for gene therapy (Willard 2000) and the synthesis of regulatory agents devised through the computer. 

Artificial chromosomes (Chapter 9) have been constructed as a means of better understanding the functional significance of many structural features of eukaryotic chromosomes. A reasonably stable artificial linear chromosome requires only three components a centromere, telomeres at each end, and sequences that allow the initiation of DNA replication. Yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs see Fig. 9-8) have been developed as a research tool in biotechnology. Similarly, human artificial chromosomes (HACs) are being developed for the treatment of genetic diseases by somatic gene therapy. 

As mentioned in Section B, 1, human centromeres are rich in the repetitive a-satellite DNA. By joining a-satellite DNA-containing fragments of the X-chro-mosome to cloned telomeric DNA, human minichromosomes have been created.488 These have been developed into human artificial chromosomes,489 which may be practical vehicles for gene transfer in human therapy. 

Huxley C. Mammalian artificial chromosomes a new tool for gene therapy. Gene Ther 1994 1 7-12. 

Vos J-MH. Mammalian artificial chromosomes as tools for gene therapy. Curr Opin Genet Dev 1998 8 351-359. 

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