Gene therapy was first used in the year 1990 in a 4-year-old girl for the diagnosis of deficiency of:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Adenosine deaminase
Gene therapy corrects a gene defect found in a child or embryo. A normal gene is put into the person’s cells to take over the job of the faulty gene. The first clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a 4-year-old girl with adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency. ADA is an enzyme that is very important for the immune system to work. Its deficiency is caused by the deletion of the gene for ADA.
(1) Insulin — Incorrect. Lack of insulin causes diabetes. It is treated by giving insulin, now made by genetic engineering, not by this first gene therapy.
(2) Estrogen — Incorrect. Estrogen is a female sex hormone. Its lack was not the subject of the first gene therapy.
(3) Functional alanine hydroxylase — Incorrect. This is not the enzyme treated by the first gene therapy. The enzyme was adenosine deaminase.
(4) Adenosine deaminase — Correct. The girl had ADA deficiency.
NCERT Extract:
Gene Therapy – …
