gene therapy

So far, B cells haven’t gotten the same attention—indeed, genetically engineered versions have never been tested in a human. That’s partly because “engineering B cells is not that easy,” says Xin Luo, a professor at Virginia Tech who in 2009 demonstrated how to generate B cells that have an added gene. That early work, carried out at Caltech, explored whether the cells could be directed to make antibodies against HIV, perhaps becoming a new form of vaccination. While that idea didn’t pan out, now biotech companies like…

Postnatal gene therapy may be able to prevent or repair many of the harmful effects of Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, a rare genetic condition, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. This autism spectrum illness is characterised by severe developmental delays, intellectual incapacity, respiratory and movement abnormalities, anxiety, epilepsy, and moderate but identifiable facial abnormalities. The researchers developed an experimental gene-therapy-like strategy to help persons with…