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.

Pioneering work with human embryonic stem cells could speed up development of new treatments for Parkinson’s and diabetes

Pioneering work with human embryonic stem (hES) cells could speed up the development of new treatments for a range of degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and diabetes according to Dr Stephen Minger of King’s College London, speaking today at the BA Festival of Science.

8 Sep 2004

First Parkinson’s gene therapy patient well after 1 year suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective

The first ever patient to have undergone gene therapy for Parkinson’s appears to have come through phase I without a hitch, suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective, reports Marina Murphy in Chemistry & Industry.

2 Sep 2004

First step in using gene therapy to treat glaucoma

Mayo Clinic researchers have demonstrated they can permanently transfer a functioning gene to targeted tissues within the eye.

2 Sep 2004

Researchers accurately pinpoint the types of lymphoma, Hodgkins or non-Hodgkins

“There are many types and subtypes of lymphoma, some of which are easy to detect, but many that are very difficult to identify,” says Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Sbarro Institute at Temple and one of the study’s principal investigators.

1 Sep 2004

Scientists discover breakthrough method to treat neuronal diseases

What do stroke, epilepsy, head or spinal cord trauma, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease patients have in common? They all suffer from neuronal cell death brought about by the absence or malfunction of specific genes.

30 Aug 2004

Study of new gene and cell therapy to better understand how genetically-engineered cells can help pace the heart

Guidant Corporation, Columbia University and Stony Brook University will collaborate to study a new gene and cell therapy that may ultimately provide better understanding of how genetically-engineered cells can help pace the heart.

26 Aug 2004

Scientists have discovered a protein that could be the key to finding a cure for asthma

Scientists at the University's Department of Pharmacology and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research have discovered a protein produced in human lung cells that could be the key to finding a cure for asthma.

25 Aug 2004

First whole-genome survey of where three commonly used retroviruses into human DNA

Retroviruses are one of the most common vehicles for delivering therapeutic payloads via gene therapy in animal models of disease and human patients.

22 Aug 2004

New imaging technique may help cystic fibrosis sufferers

Now, Jefferson Lab scientists have used their expertise to build a small animal medical imager that's helping researchers develop a new gene therapy technique for cystic fibrosis.

15 Aug 2004

Bionomics BNO69 angiogenesis gene discovery published

Bionomics has announced that research conducted by Bionomics and its collaborators at the Hanson Centre of the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science ("IMVS") in Adelaide, Australia, relating to Bionomics' proprietary angiogenesis drug target BNO69, has been published in the high ranking scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS).

10 Aug 2004

New treatment strategy for brain cancer

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have found that combining ionizing radiation with a secreted protein that selectively inhibits tumor cell growth and survival can target cancer cells and leave healthy cells alone, perhaps presenting a new approach for treating the deadliest type of brain tumor.

9 Aug 2004

Total global market for oligonucleotides is likely to grow from USD 340.0 million in 2003 to USD 776.0 million in 2010

Poised on the brink of phenomenal growth, the oligonucleotides market offers a plethora of opportunities to the enterprising investor. Recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan estimates that the total global market for oligonucleotides is likely to grow from USD 340.0 million in 2003 to USD 776.0 million in 2010.

9 Aug 2004

New gene-silencing technique

A new gene-silencing technique that takes place in the nucleus of human cells, has been demonstrated by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

5 Aug 2004

New gene therapy treatment involves injecting Herpes simplex virus into the brain tumours of Glioma patients

Experts on the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee have given the go ahead for a large clinical trial of a new treatment for patients with Glioma - one of the most aggressive types of brain tumours for which there is currently no cure.

3 Aug 2004

Smart gene therapy might effectively prevent the organ damage commonly suffered by heart attack victims

Early intervention with a novel kind of "smart gene therapy" might effectively prevent the organ damage commonly suffered by heart attack victims, suggests a new animal study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Duke University Medical Center.

2 Aug 2004

Proof of principle that it is possible to deliver new genes body-wide to all the muscles of an adult animal

MDA-supported researchers at the University of Washington-Seattle have delivered the gene for the dystrophin protein to all voluntary muscles with a single intravenous injection in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

29 Jul 2004

$1.6 million to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal, childhood-onset disease

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has announced it has awarded $1.6 million to Asklepios, a biotechnology company closely allied with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a fatal, childhood-onset disease.

23 Jul 2004

Strategic analysis of the breast cancer therapeutics pipeline

Strategic partnerships between the pharmaceuticals industry and the biotechnology sector are making breast cancer therapeutics one of the most dynamic segments in the overall oncology market.

15 Jul 2004

First successful gene therapy that mimics the action of calcium channel blockers

Their findings - published in the latest edition of Circulation Research, online July 8 - may lead to a gene therapy alternative to calcium channel blockers and their sometimes severe side effects, but also further interest in the development of gene therapies unique - as in this case - to one particular organ.

10 Jul 2004

Gene therapy may provide a treatment for a group of incurable, progressive neurological diseases called polyglutamine-repeat diseases

Researchers from the University of Iowa have have shown for the first time that gene therapy delivered to the brains of living mice can prevent the physical symptoms and neurological damage caused by an inherited neurodegenerative disease that is similar to Huntington's disease (HD).

5 Jul 2004