[Impact of genetic modifications on infectious diseases]

Genetic engineering offers the theoretical possibility to transfer any natural or modified gene into any living organism. This generates new and diverse situations which may contribute to the spreading of infectious diseases or on the contrary to control them. Problems may theoretically come from uncontrolled genes providing resistance to antibiotics, from the activation of genomic retroviral sequences, from enhanced sensitivity of the organism to pathogens, as well as from the generation of mutated microorganisms with a higher pathogenecity. On the contrary, various genetic modifications may create organisms resistant to infectious diseases, generate safe and efficient recombinant vaccines, or provide patients with proteins which stimulate their defense mechanisms. The major impacts of genetic modifications in the development of infectious diseases or on the contrary in their eradication are analyzed in this article.