HIV used to fix ‘bubble boy’ disease

Why is it in news?
  • Ina recent case, doctors at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, fixed bubble boy disease by a gene therapy made from one of the immune system’s worst enemies HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
More in news
  • Severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (SCID):
    (1) It is caused by a genetic flaw that keeps the bone marrow from making effective versions of blood cells that comprise the immune system.
    (2) It affects 1 in 2,00,000 newborns, almost exclusively males.
    (3) Without treatment, it often kills in the first year or two of life.
    (4) A simple infection like the common cold could be fatal to these patients.
  • Bubble boy disease nickname to SCID: It comes from a famous case in the 1970s a Texas boy who lived for 12 years in a protective plastic bubble to isolate him from germs.
Source
The Hindu




Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 19th Apr 2019
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