suicide gene


suicide gene

A gene that codes for a protein, usually an enzyme, that makes cells vulnerable to otherwise nontoxic substances or nutrients. Suicide genes can be introduced into cells during gene therapy. The technique is used in cancer therapy to make tumor cells susceptible to treatment with prodrugs, which only become active chemotherapeutic agents when they are metabolized within cells harboring the gene. Suicide gene therapy is also used in graft-versus-host disease to kill the activated donor T cells responsible for the immunological attack on the host.

suicide gene

a GENE coding for a product that can kill the CELL. It may be used as a BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT stratagem.