Doctors develop 'cure' for babies with 'bubble boy' disease

Dannie Hawkins dreamed for her precious baby nephew, Ja'Ceon Golden, to experience the simple joys of childhood -- swimming in pools during the summer, going to birthday parties, playing in parks filled with people, having a pet -- without risk.

Yet because of his illness, going outdoors and into crowds of people would put him at serious risk of deadly infections, and so Hawkins accepted that as Ja'Ceon's reality -- until now.Kristin Simpson, as any mother would, wished for her baby son, Omarion Jordan, to grow into a healthy boy who could venture outdoors and not live at risk of getting gravely ill. Now, she says, he can.

Mukherjee on the 'revolution' of gene therapy 01:43A team led by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis developed an experimental gene therapy that involves harvesting bone marrow stem cells from a child with SCID-X1, inserting the normal gene that is missing in these patients into those cells, and then infusing them back into the child so the cells repopulate and restore the immune system.Tod Lubitch in the 1976 movie"The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

'Bubble girl' is allergic to life 04:02The newly developed gene therapy, performed in combination with a chemotherapy called busulfan, was described in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. Both Ja'Ceon and Omarion participated in a clinical trial to test the therapy, and it proved successful in treating SCID-X1 in both.

The researchers are investigating how this gene therapy could be used to treat patients of older ages and with other types of disease.For instance,"the same vector that was manufactured here at St. Jude is currently being used at National Institutes of Health to treat older children who had an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant," Mamcarz said.

Sk

This treatment would never have been developed under government control healthcare. Rare disease treatment development would be out because of price limits and R and D cuts due to dollars needed for Medicare for all.

Live long enough and see everything you know turns on it's head. Who would have ever thought HIV would be put into good use.

😃

Breaking news!!..

As far as I know they haven't found a 'cure' for any virus,not even the common cold.I'd imagine if they ever find a cure for any virus it may open the doors for more cures for viruses.A virus is much smaller than a bacteria from what I've heard.

I hope is it the cure. Cute baby.

That baby is not convinced.

THE MOOPS

I'd follow anyone who likes this tweet...follow back please when I follow.

I think the Australian Prime Minister suffers from it

DeathbyDCSports

What will Hollywood due without this cliche to use!

Mankind hasn't cured anything in a long time. I hope this is the real deal.

Fantastic news. But I'm also quite shocked that Ghandi was involved.

So help me if this is another damned fecal transplant article....

Cutie patootie💖 Congrats!

That's some great news! Science FTW

Health Health Latest News, Health Health Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

There's now a cure for the deadly genetic disorder known as 'bubble boy' diseaseDoctors at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital used a cutting-edge medical technique called gene therapy to treat 10 babies born with the disease.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

Gene therapy cures infants with ‘bubble boy’ immune diseaseGene therapy cures infants with 'bubble boy' immune disorder, raising hopes of using it to remedy other genetic diseases That's awesome 👍 Medical scientists and researchers are the world’s real heroes! Wow thanks
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »

Doctors use HIV in gene therapy to fix 'bubble boy' diseaseA study out Wednesday details how scientists turned this enemy virus into a savior, altering it so it couldn't cause disease and then using it to deliver a gene the boys lacked. I've always wondered if a 'weakened' version of it could be used to treat autoimmune disorders. Probably too risky.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »

Fertility doctors say healthy 'three-parent baby' born in GreeceThe infant was born Tuesday morning in Greece, weighing about 6 lbs, the doctors said. The mother, an infertile 32-year-old woman from Greece, and the new-born child are said to be in good health.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »