Sunday, October 16, 2011

Big Step Forward: Gene therapy and stem cells unite

Gene therapy and stem cells unite By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News * Human 'cloning' makes stem cells * 'Scalpel' hope for muscle disease * Stem cells used in stroke trial Two of the holy grails of medicine - stem cell technology and precision gene therapy - have been united for the first time in humans, say scientists. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15272081

Gene therapy and stem cells unite


Chromosomes Could genetically modified stem cells be used to treat genetic diseases?

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Two of the holy grails of medicine - stem cell technology and precision gene therapy - have been united for the first time in humans, say scientists.
It means patients with a genetic disease could, one day, be treated with their own cells.
A study in Nature corrected a mutation in stem cells made from a patient with a liver disease.
Researchers said this was a "critical step" towards devising treatments, but safety tests were still needed.
At the moment, stem cells created from a patient with a genetic illness cannot be used to cure the disease as those cells would also contain the corrupted genetic code.
Scientists, at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge, were working on cirrhotic liver disease.
It is caused by a change to a single pair of letters, out of the six billion which make up the genetic code.

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