Posted on 04/24/2019 5:32:21 AM PDT by LibWhacker
US scientists say they used HIV to make a gene therapy that cured eight infants of severe combined immunodeficiency, or "bubble boy" disease.
Results of the research, developed at a Tennessee hospital, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The babies, born with little to no immune protection, now have fully functional immune systems.
Untreated babies with this disorder have to live in completely sterile conditions and tend to die as infants.
The gene therapy involved collecting the babies' bone marrow and correcting the genetic defect in their DNA soon after their birth.
The "correct" gene - used to fix the defect - was inserted into an altered version of one of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Researchers said most of the babies were discharged from the hospital within one month.
Dr Ewelina Mamcarz of St Jude, an author of the study, said in a statement: "These patients are toddlers now, who are responding to vaccinations and have immune systems to make all immune cells they need for protection from infections as they explore the world and live normal lives
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
That’s amazing.
This is a man made miracle.
And I love it when bad is turned into good.
Interesting. And I remember the movie about the bubble boy with John Travolta, Diana Hyland, and Ralph Bellamy (as the doctor).
I just remember the Seinfeld episode with George and the bubble boy.
RiffTrax TV shows it, often.
There has to be a catch in there somewhere.
It’s the moops!
This article is so badly written that I cannot actually tell what they did to treat the babies. To my scientist mind, the article might as well have said “some people did something” in its description of what the researchers did. Not trying to be offensive, just pointing out the sloppy writing.
What in the world is that GIF?
They found out a way to cure a disease, with a disease. Crazy!
Harris would think they only went to that job because they couldn’t find a teaching gig.
Another miracle.
I believe Seinfeld did a take on that too.
I imagine that bubble cramped Travolta’s dancing style.
While I'm glad this was a success I have questions.
What was the theory behind this? Why would researchers ever think to use an immuno-suppressing virus to cure an immuno-suppressing gene?
And why would parents consent?
If these were my kids I would be very skeptical of this treatment and would not want to use my child as a test subject.
St. Jude’s Children’s hospital does some amazing stuff.
I only opened this thread for the Seinfeld reference. It is Moops.
Very good questions. I can’t answer them; not a doctor, nor ever took a single step in that direction during my career.
But oh, boy, am I ever grateful I wasn’t the first person they ever approached with a proposed cure such as this one!
Of course, you’d be desperate for a cure, but it seems soooo creepy. But no more creepy than the first brave souls who allowed themselves to be vaccinated with “dead” polio virus to “inoculate” them against live polio virus (was polio the first?... Not sure of my “facts” there).
Oops, that makes it sound like I'm calling them creepy... So let's squeeze in a little phrase...
more creepy than it must have been to the first brave souls
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