Gene Therapy Net Launches New Gene Therapy Quiz - Test your gene therapy knowledge

PRLog (Press Release) - Jun 30, 2009 -
“We are very excited about this latest development for Gene Therapy Net”, says Dr. D.A. Bleijs, owner and webmaster of Gene Therapy Net. “We’ve created an interactive multiple choice quiz, which takes only a few minutes to complete, that will help to learn more about the exciting science of gene therapy”. The area of gene therapy is of great promise, but gene therapy is still in the early stages. “We experience that the public is often skeptical of new developed gene therapy treatments. This is meanly due to fact of limited knowledge, public awareness and the damaging effects of reports of several adverse events occurring in gene therapy trials. Taking the quiz is an excellent tool to learn more about gene therapy and its potential”, states Dr. Bleijs.

The multiple choice quiz can be found at http://www.genetherapynet.com/quiz.html as a part of Gene Therapy Net. “You can choose between three difficulty levels, from beginner to expert. Each quiz contains 10 general knowledge questions, with every question having four possible answers, so guessing is allowed if you don’t know the answer. Although we recommend to read the information on the website first as this will help answer the questions”, says the owner of Gene Therapy Net. On the website there is a recently updated patient section that explains the concept of gene therapy and diseases that can be treated. A comprehensive glossary of gene therapy terms is included as well as many video tutorials. Another section describes the principles of several viral vectors used in clinical gene therapy trials.

“The questions in the multiple choice quiz explores areas such as the history and basic concept of gene therapy, viral vector development, gene therapy treatments and clinical trials. After each given answer the correct answer is displayed, including some background information and resources for further reading. When completing the quiz your score will be calculated and you will be invited to proceed to the next level with tougher questions. It’s fun!”, explains Dr. Bleijs.

Another new feature of Gene Therapy Net is a free e-newsletter that provides the field’s most recent information, from scientific research and the latest clinical data, to business news, regulatory affairs, careers, policy, publications, etc. In the last year, Gene Therapy Net also entered several media partnerships with related gene therapy organizations to promote their conferences and events. Among these are the International Society for Cancer Gene Therapy (ISCGT), the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT), the Australasian Gene Therapy Society (AGTS) and the Phacilitate’s annual Cell & Gene Therapy Forum. “We welcome collaborations that will enable us to meet our goals of being the most inclusive gene therapy resource in the world”, says the owner of Gene Therapy Net.

Gene therapy is an experimental treatment that involves introducing genetic material (genes) into a person’s cells to fight or prevent disease. In most gene therapy studies, a normal gene is inserted into the body to correct an abnormal gene that is causing disease. Getting the gene into the body tissues where it is needed is a challenging and complex problem that researchers are trying to solve. Researchers are studying gene therapy for a number of diseases, such as severe combined immunodeficiency, blindness, hemophilia, Parkinson's disease, cancer and even HIV.

About Gene Therapy Net
Gene Therapy Net is the information resource for basic and clinical research in gene therapy, cell therapy, and genetic vaccines, and the site serves as a network in the exchange of information and news related to above areas. The visitors of Gene Therapy Net are professionals, doctors and researchers, as well as students, patients, regulatory affairs officers, government policy officers, and everyone else interested in gene therapy