Human Genome Management Information System

About the author: The Human Genome Management Information System (HGMIS) is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. HGMIS provides technical assistance and information to various research groups in hopes of making genome science accessible to a diverse audience.

Genes are the basic units of heredity. They are encoded to make proteins, which perform many life functions and compose most cellular structures. When genes are altered so that proteins do not function normally, genetic disorders may result. Attempting to correct genetic disorders in humans by replacing damaged or altered genes in a chromosome with normal genes is a technique called gene therapy. In most gene therapy cases, normal genes are introduced to the damaged region of the chromosomes through a "vector," usually a virus that has been manipulated...