Crystal ball gazing: human embryonic stem cells in 2012

In the last few months of 2011, a couple of stories on human embryonic stem cells hit the headlines. Both were bad news for stem cell researchers...[Read More]

Gene therapy breakthrough for blood-clotting disease

Scientists have successfully used gene therapy to alleviate the symptoms of the blood disease haemophilia B in six human volunteers, raising hope for a potential cure. The study has been hailed as a landmark trial for gene therapy...[Read More]

Innovative gene therapy protects mice from HIV infection

US scientists have induced long-lasting HIV protection in mice from a single injection. Their study, published in the journal Nature, uses gene therapy to stimulate production of antibodies against the virus...[Read More]

Single gene can make you appear more trustworthy

Variations in a single gene may have considerable impact on whether people come across as trustworthy and kind, scientists say. Furthermore, the snap judgments we make about people's kindness after only a brief contact may accurately correspond to whether or not they possess the more 'social' gene variant...[Read More]

Gene therapy used in attempt to halt blindness

A British man has become the first person to receive an advanced gene therapy treatment in a bid to save his sight. Jonathan Wyatt, aged 63, is the first of 12 patients to have the experimental procedure to try and halt the progression of his genetic eye disorder, choroideraemia. While he still has some sight, if left untreated, he would eventually become blind...[Read More]

Gene therapy to treat HIV shows promise

The success of a new gene therapy trial represents a significant step towards a 'functional cure' for HIV, US researchers announced this week. By mimicking the effects of a naturally occurring gene mutation that makes an individual resistant to infection, this therapy aims to reduce or eliminate the dependency of HIV patients on antiretroviral drugs....[Read More]

No immune system? No problem: Gene therapy found for 'bubble babies'

Over a dozen children with 'boy in bubble' syndrome are alive and well, with functioning immune systems, nine years after undergoing gene therapy to correct their disorder, researchers report....[Read More]

Film Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is this summer's big blockbuster and is directed by Rupert Wyatt. The film is a prequel to the other Planet of the Apes films and charts how the apes came to revolt. The basic storyline is thus; Dr Will Rodman (James Franco) is testing a gene therapy called ALZ-112 on chimps to find a cure for degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's...[Read More]

Potential breakthrough in HIV gene therapy

American researchers have successfully created immune cells resistant to HIV. T cells, which are the main target of HIV, were isolated from six HIV positive patients and genetically manipulated to confer resistance. The cells were injected back into the same patients and were able to survive and multiply...[Read More]

Scientists set to tackle gene-doping in sport

Researchers have expressed concern about athlete's use of genetic tools in the 'next generation' of illegal doping, and have stressed the importance of developing reliable new detection tests to stop them. Writing in the journal Science, Theodore Friedmann and colleagues at the University of California warn that 'the time is right to look at how advances in genetics are affecting sport'. The authors highlight the dangers of using imperfect and 'highly risky' genetic techniques, which may have...[Read More]

Gene therapy for muscle wasting conditions shows promise

Research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine last week shows gene therapy can improve muscle size and strength in monkeys. The technique holds promise as a therapy for several neuromuscular disorders, and researchers hope that clinical trials will start next year....[Read More]

Gene therapy halts deadly hereditary brain disease in two boys

Gene therapy has been used to treat two young boys with a devastating and fatal brain disease called adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Two years after treatment, both boys showed signs that the disease had stopped progressing and that there were no serious side effects from the gene therapy. These results, published in the journal Science, show huge promise, both for the future treatment of ALD and for the revival of investigations into the use of gene therapy to treat a wide variety ...[Read More]

Gene therapy restores significant vision in congenital blindness

US doctors have used gene therapy to restore significant vision in 12 patients who were previously blinded by a disease called Leber's congenital amaurosis. The study, conducted by researchers at the Children`s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was published online in the Lancet on 24 October....[Read More]

Promising new gene therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

A potential new gene therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is now set to enter clinical trials after encouraging results in mice. The multinational team of scientists, publishing their findings in the journal Molecular Therapy, demonstrated that the therapy dramatically prevented severe muscle deterioration and extended the lifespan of mice with symptoms of DMD....[Read More]

Gene therapy could remedy Parkinson's

A gene therapy for Parkinson's disease that has been tested on monkeys is showing promising early results in a small-scale trial on humans. French researchers reported their findings in the new journal Science Translational Medicine last week....[Read More]

Alzheimers gene therapy treatment enters phase II trial

Dr R. Scott Turner and his team of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University, US, have begun recruiting patients to take part in a gene therapy trial, which hopes to test whether gene therapy using the nerve growth factor (NGF) gene could be used to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease...[Read More]

Gene therapy improves vision in rare hereditary blindness condition

A phase I clinical trial in the US has successfully used gene therapy to improve vision in individuals suffering from a rare form of hereditary blindness. The promising results of this trial pave the way for future trials and may eventually lead to a cure for several forms of congenital blindness...[Read More]

Can regenerative medicine defeat ageing?

The relevance of nearly all biogerontology research to combating aging is restricted to the potential for slowing down the accumulation of molecular and cellular damage that eventually leads to age-related ill-health. Meanwhile, regenerative medicine has been progressing rapidly and is nearing clinical applicability to a wide range of specific conditions...[Read More]

Gene therapy and drug studies show promise for treatment of cystic fibrosis

Scientists have used two new techniques to fix defects in lung cells from people with cystic fibrosis, raising hope for new treatments for the disease in the future. The first study, published in the journal Plos Biology, used a gene therapy technique to treat the cells, whilst the second study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, used a drug called miglustat....[Read More]

Gene therapy success reverses childhood blindness

Four people with a rare inherited condition which leads to blindness in childhood have reportedly experienced improved vision after taking part in the world's first trials of an experimental gene therapy, according to two independent studies published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. Professor Robin...[Read More]