Gene Therapy News and Research

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Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. In the future, this technique may allow doctors to treat a disorder by inserting a gene into a patient’s cells instead of using drugs or surgery.

Potentially ground-breaking treatment for nerve damage caused by diabetes

The University of Manchester team has discovered that injection of a novel therapeutic that works by stimulating a person's genes may prevent nerve damage - primarily to the hands and feet - caused by the disease.

From The University of Manchester 8 Jun 2006

Gene therapy used to accelerate muscle regeneration

Researchers have successfully used gene therapy to accelerate muscle regeneration in experimental animals with muscle damage.

6 Jun 2006

Potential new treatment for diabetic nerve damage

A potentially ground-breaking treatment for nerve damage caused by diabetes has shown promising results in preclinical and early patient trials.

From The University of Manchester 6 Jun 2006

West Nile virus DNA vaccine shows promise in phase 1 trial

Vical Incorporated has announced that in a Phase 1 clinical trial, a West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine candidate administered using Vical's proprietary DNA delivery technology was safe and well tolerated

5 Jun 2006

Promising new vaccine delivery approach

The field of vaccine development is getting a boost from new research that has identified a promising vaccine delivery approach, which in animal studies produced long-term immune protection after just one immunization.

31 May 2006

New technique to deliver insulin genes to pancreas

Researchers at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and the Baylor Research Institute have developed a novel technique to deliver insulin genes to the pancreas, the organ that produces the body's insulin.

23 May 2006

Promising chemo, therapeutic viruses, cutting-edge surgery debut at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Brain tumor specialists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are poised on the brink of a new era.

10 May 2006

New approaches to genetic disease, based on cells' own ability to correct themselves

New approaches to genetic disease, based on cells' own ability to correct themselves, will be outlined today at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

8 May 2006

Important insights into how cells regulate certain growth-proteins

Researchers here have discovered a new mechanism used by cells - and manipulated by retroviruses - to control the making of certain essential proteins, including some involved in cancer.

8 May 2006

Therapeutic gene suspected to cause cancer

One of the few gene therapy studies that had ever been successful was terminated in 2003, because several of the treated children had developed leukemia.

3 May 2006

Differential effects of HOXB4 on nonhuman primate short and long-term repopulating cells

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs, the cells that can give rise to all blood and most immune cell types) can save patients whose own hematopoietic system is defective or has been destroyed (often through radiation or chemotherapy of cancer).

3 May 2006

DNA taxi

Despite few successes to date, gene therapy is a highly promising approach for medical therapy in the future.

1 May 2006

Prefrontal cortex in the brain damaged by both alcoholism and chronic smoking

Alcoholism is commonly associated with chronic smoking, and both alcohol and nicotine are believed to act on the same brain region. Research builds upon previous research that identified four potential alcohol-sensitive genes in the prefrontal cortex, finding that smoking also influences the expression of these genes.

26 Apr 2006

Fast tracking the healing process for common ear infections

The research will aim to understand why some eardrums heal by themselves (and why some do not heal at all) by identifying which genes are responsible for the wound-healing process of an infected human ear drum.

18 Apr 2006

First gene therapy human trial in the United States for a form of muscular dystrophy under way

The clinical trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tests the safety and effectiveness of a therapy that was developed over two decades by scientists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh.

16 Apr 2006

Scientists use corrective gene to block a protein in the kidneys that triggers high blood pressure

Nearly one-third of American adults have high blood pressure, a major cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. But a new technique tested at the University of Florida could prove to be a long-term way to treat the disorder in humans, researchers say.

11 Apr 2006

Weill Cornell experts publish review of genetic medicine

In an article published in the April issue of Nature Reviews Genetics, two experts at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University sum up the achievements, challenges and promise of a burgeoning field: genetic medicine.

3 Apr 2006

Custom made nanoparticles will transform cancer diagnosis and treatment

Researchers have developed "custom" nanoparticles that promise to provide a more targeted and effective way of delivering anticancer drugs than conventional medications or any of the earlier attempts to fight cancer with nanoparticles.

28 Mar 2006

Gene therapy treatment for brain tumours and infections

In a study published in the March 15 issue of The Journal of Immunology, researchers at Board of Governors' Gene Therapeutics Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have developed a way to overcome immune privilege in the brain to eradicate potentially deadly brain tumors such as glioblastoma multiforme and other types of brain infections.

27 Mar 2006

Scientists create new molecule that holds promise in fighting disease via gene therapy

Inherited diseases, as well as many cancers and cardiovascular diseases, may eventually be helped by this approach, which delivers therapeutic genes directly to cells. These genes can correct genetic defects, for example, or help the body's immune system fight cancer cells.

23 Mar 2006