News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: April 23, 2012
GENE THERAPY: Inadvertent changes: how engineered viruses disrupt normal gene expression Gene therapy holds the promise of treating genetic conditions by restoring normal gene function. The field has developed slowly over the last several decades with high importance placed on safety to reduce the chance that introduced genes cause problems. Gene therapy often relies on engineered viruses that use viral machinery to deliver the desired gene product in cells. Two recent studies - led by Fulvio Mavilio of the Istituto Scientifico H.
Extracts From The Neem Tree May Stop HIV From Multiplying
Tall, with dark-green pointy leaves, the neem tree of India is known as the "village pharmacy." As a child growing up in metropolitan New Delhi, Sonia Arora recalls on visits to rural areas seeing villagers using neem bark to clean their teeth. Arora's childhood memories have developed into a scientific fascination with natural products and their power to cure illnesses. Now an assistant professor at Kean University in New Jersey, Arora is delving into understanding the curative properties of the neem tree in fighting the virus that causes AIDS.
Decade-Long Study Of HIV Patients Finds Gene Therapy Safe, Lasting
HIV patients treated with genetically modified T cells remain healthy up to 11 years after initial therapy, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in the new issue of Science Translational Medicine. The results provide a framework for the use of this type of gene therapy as a powerful weapon in the treatment of HIV, cancer, and a wide variety of other diseases. "We have 43 patients and they are all healthy, " says senior author Carl June, MD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn Medicine.