Summary

Gene therapy was heralded as a potential cure for Parkinson's disease (PD) beginning in the 1990s. The idea was that by giving patients the genes they need, potentially their functionality could be restored. However, several initial clinical trials failed to provide positive results. These failures have provided lessons for the development of alternative potential gene therapies as well as other approaches, such as augmenting pharmacotherapy with gene therapy. Several new agents and techniques are currently in early-stage clinical trials.