Sunday, July 08, 2007

Gene therapy success for Parkinson's patients

A cold-like virus is used as a vector to deliver genes that help convert glutamate into gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and thus calm down the subthalamic nucleus. Three months after injection, all recipients had at least 25-30% improvement in symptoms.
Apparently, Parkinson's patients are notoriously prone to placebo effects, though.

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