Paula Cannon

Reflecting on the evolution of gene therapy from good idea to mundane miracle

“Five years from now, when we have treated and cured many people with sickle cell disease, it will begin to feel mundane.” Abi Pinchbeck, Editor, Cell and Gene Therapy Insights, speaks with Paula Cannon, Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine of USC, about the evolution of gene therapy from a bold engineering challenge to an increasingly routine clinical reality. They discuss the financial and regulatory barriers to patient access, the field’s perceived image problem, and what it would take for policymakers to evaluate gene therapy with the same measured risk–benefit lens applied to other medicines.