Italian Team Cures Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome With the Help of HIV 109
New submitter tchernobog writes "An Italian team funded by Telethon and S. Raffaele of Milan, was able to cure six kids affected by lethal genetic diseases (in Italian, English video): the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and the metachromatic leukodystrophy. This is the culmination of a project lasted 15 years, and which cost more than 30M €; the researchers published some preliminary results last year in Nature, and are waiting for the results on more patients to submit another. The really interesting part is: they used a mix of advanced genetic techniques to achieve this result. Firstly, the DNA of a defective cell is corrected with a gene assembled in the lab. This procedure has been very dangerous for the past 20 years: that it can even be used is a good achievement alone. Secondly, the corrected DNA is propagated in the patient's body using a stripped-down version of HIV, of which less than 10% of its original genome remains. Might the feared HIV in reality prove to be salvation for some?"
Italy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Holy crap (Score:5, Funny)
I'll be excited when they announce catgirls.
Re:What about the fundementalists. (Score:5, Funny)
HIV kills the sinful but cures the sick. There's no inconsistency.
Re:What about the fundementalists. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Fucking with HIV (Score:5, Funny)
What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
You could get HIV pregnant.