Use of suicide genes in gene therapy

Gene therapy encompasses a broad range of treatment modalities that may eventually be applied to a variety of genetic as well as acquired diseases. In addition to compensating for a defective gene--and enhancing a cellular function--gene transfer can allow for a conditional negative selection of target cells. Indeed, the transfer of a gene encoding a susceptibility factor can make a cell specifically sensitive to a drug. After genomic integration, such as potentially destructive gene is endogenously expressed and has therefore been coined a suicide gene. This review describes current experimental approaches and prospects for using suicide genes for the treatment of human diseases.