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Is Recent Gene Therapy Setback for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Déjà vu All Over Again?

PLOS: DNA Science

In the final chapter of my 2012 book The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It , I predicted that the technology would soon expand well beyond the rare disease world. Gene therapy clearly hasn’t had a major impact on health care, offering extremely expensive treatments for a few individuals with rare diseases.

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A therapy candidate for fatal prion diseases turns off disease-causing gene

Broad Institute

Science (2024) Related content New gene delivery vehicle shows promise for human brain gene therapy My Quest to Cure Prion Disease — Before It’s Too Late | Sonia Vallabh | TED Prion diseases lead to rapid neurodegeneration and death and are caused by misshapen versions of the prion protein in the brain.

Disease 142
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Scaling Phage Therapy

Codon

Tom Ireland writes about the companies and technologies that are reimagining phage therapy. Soon after its publication, scientists, journalists, and investors were revisiting ‘phage therapy’ as a promising alternative to our failing antibiotics. Read it on our website here. Illustration by David S. Fast forward to 2023.

Therapies 115
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Cell and gene therapy development moves into cardiac indications

Drug Target Review

Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) have made significant advancements in treating oncological diseases, with therapies like CAR-T cell treatments transforming cancer care. However, cell-based therapies are intended to leverage those healthy cells via transplant to regenerate damaged tissue.

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FDA Returns Disappointing News for ALS Stem Cell Therapy

PLOS: DNA Science

Last week DNA Science covered a setback in a clinical trial of a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Also recently, FDA’s Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committe turned down a stem cell treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or motor neuron disease.

Therapies 111
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Not all neoantigens are created equal

Drug Target Review

During the process of transformation from a normal cell into a cancer cell, a cell acquires a series of changes, or mutations, in its DNA. In most cancers, the tumour evolves by acquiring mutations that confer growth advantages or resistance to therapies. Neoantigens are recognised as non-self and trigger an immune response.

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How the Classic TB Vaccine Treats Bladder Cancer – Zebrafish Avatars Reveal Mechanism

PLOS: DNA Science

The idea to redirect an immune response against a pathogen to fight cancer goes back to 1891, when Manhattan bone surgeon William Coley became intrigued by a man’s neck tumor that melted away after he contracted a nasty Streptococcus skin infection. For many patients, BCG stops the cancer.

Vaccine 52