Novel gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease clears safety hurdle

[xchrom]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/09/novel-gene-therapy-for-parkinsons-disease-clears-safety-hurdle/


A closely-watched prototype therapy to inject corrective genes into the brain to treat Parkinson’s disease has cleared an important safety hurdle, doctors said Friday.

Tested on 15 volunteers with an advanced form of the degenerative nerve disease, the technique proved safe and the results were encouraging, they said.

The experiment aims to reverse the lack of a brain chemical called dopamine, which is essential for motor skills.

It entails tucking three genes into a disabled horse virus of the family lentiviruses.

[Ilsa]

1. This is great news.

Parkinsons affects so many families.