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Europe is on the cusp of approving a gene therapy for the first time, in what would be a landmark moment for the field.
Gene therapies alter a patient's DNA to treat inherited diseases passed from parent to child.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended a therapy for a rare genetic disease which leaves people unable to properly digest fats.
The European Commission will now make the final decision.
The idea of gene therapy is simple: if there is a problem with part of a patient's genetic code then replace that part of the code.
The reality has not been so easy. In one gene therapy trial a US teenager, Jesse Gelsinger, died, and other patients have developed leukaemia.
There are no gene therapies available outside of a research lab in Europe or the US.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18926892
Gene therapies alter a patient's DNA to treat inherited diseases passed from parent to child.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended a therapy for a rare genetic disease which leaves people unable to properly digest fats.
The European Commission will now make the final decision.
The idea of gene therapy is simple: if there is a problem with part of a patient's genetic code then replace that part of the code.
The reality has not been so easy. In one gene therapy trial a US teenager, Jesse Gelsinger, died, and other patients have developed leukaemia.
There are no gene therapies available outside of a research lab in Europe or the US.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18926892