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Article: Gene Therapy Corrects Sickle Cell Disease in Laboratory Study.
- Article from:
- Cancer Gene Therapy Week
- Article date:
- December 15, 2008
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Using a harmless virus to insert a corrective gene into mouse blood cells, scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have alleviated sickle cell disease pathology. In their studies, the researchers found that the treated mice showed essentially no difference from normal mice. Although the scientists caution that applying the gene therapy to humans presents significant technical obstacles, they believe that the new therapy will become an important treatment for the disease (see also Cancer Gene Therapy).
Sickle cell disease, which affects millions of people worldwide, arises because of a tiny genetic defect in the gene for beta-globin, a protein ...