Iws
HE BATTALION
11A
Thursday, April 18, 2002
ew cure found for
Ibubble boy disease’
'limate will,
n dioxide t^IEW ENGLAND (AP) — In the most strik-
111 the atm ■ success yet for gene therapy, French doctors
the role oi M e apparently cured four little boys of two
0,1 hyvegetfcM and deadly immune system disorders
"T'fstatdi dutibed “bubble boy disease.”
m ^s overiiiMphc boys, followed for up to two and a half
Brs, have healthy immune systems, are growing
l Po rs giveinally and live at home after spending their
>se w Jl° ^« months in a sterile environment because they
L t |0n ; saidId not tight off disease. The immune system of
-ontribute i ij idth boy was partially restored and he is
1U)r <-‘ likeht Proving with other treatment.
"armingtkBTwo years ago the doctors reported initial
ancenainties Bcess with the first two patients; the update in
suggest ueBursday’s New England Journal of Medicine
'ini; more, shows the treatment is still working.
■“This is the first instance in which an other-
te modeler Be fatal disease has been treated with gene
land projecic.B ra Py as the onI y treatment and the disease
rrees by 211 was reversed ” said D r. Jennifer M. Puck, head
of the immunologic genetics section at the
global averat
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Denver, Universt
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National Human Genome Research Institute,
phis is exciting and it’s important.”
■ The study is welcome news for the gene ther-
By field, which suffered a setback when an
periment killed a teenager at the University of
Wisylvania in 1999. The death raised fears
fet the experiments might be too dangerous
|d led to efforts to increase safety.
The best-known victim was David,
Houston’s famous “bubble boy” who lived in a
Irm-proof plastic enclosure until his death on
■“ 984.
The boys lacked a crucial protein because of
a genetic mutation. As a result, they could not
make two types of crucial infection-fighting
immune cells. Many babies with the disorder
are now saved with bone marrow transplants,
but need monthly intravaneous infusions from
donated blood for the rest of their lives.
To reverse the gene defect, doctors at Necker
Hospital in Paris drew bone marrow from the
boys. They collected stem cells for the marrow
and mixed them with a harmless virus in which
a gene that makes the missing protein had been
inserted. After the virus infected the bone mar
row cells, millions of each boy’s cells were
injected into his bloodstream.
Repeated tests showed the boys’ bone mar
row cells continued to make the immune cells
they once lacked. In addition,they have gotten
inoculated against some childhood diseases —
shots that once would have killed them.
Soia Skarlatos, gene therapy coordinator at
the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute,
said the results do not prove the boys’ immune
systems have been permanently repaired, but it
is the longest-lived success in gene therapy so
far. Some of the boys’ stem cells still have the
defective gene, but enough have the normal one
to give them a good immune system, she said.
Skarlatos said the approach could eventual
ly help create some other genetic diseases
starting with hemophilia and another form of
SCID. “In the next five years or so, I would
expect to see some results,” she said.
Heatwave hits East coast
BOSTON (AP)
Summer like heat baked the
■astern third of the country
fegain Wednesday, toppling
ore records and sending peo-
le outside in search of sun —
fid relief.
“Whatever is cold is flying
ut the door,” said Barbara
ngold, a co-owner of Bart’s
omemade ice cream parlor
Northampton.
It felt like July, not mid-
phl. As Phoenix, Miami and
Ian Antonio all hit the low 80s,
oston hit a record high of 92
Agrees and Springfield swel-
red at 95. Concord, N.H.,
'osted a record 91 and
'ortiand, Maine, a record 80.
few York and Newark, N.J.,
th had a record of 96 and
Wladelphia hit 95. it was 94 in
e nation’s capital.
The unseasonabe warmth
fetched from the Midwest to
outhern Maine, where the
'ortiand beaches played host to
ople in swimsuits before the
ercury dropped into the 50s.
Along the upper Great
akes, snow melting rapidly
Oder the hot sun caused
coding in northern sections
fWisconsin and Michigan.
Leona Williams, shopping
11 Philadelphia for summer
lothes for her children, said
he was enjoying the heat —
to a point.
“Winter was so mild it was
almost like spring, and now it
looks like spring’s going to be
like summer,” Williams said.
“It’s very strange.”
The late afternoon sun was
u
We got help
from local resi
dents, city depart
ments and we’ve
got high school stu
dents out here
helping us sandbag
to protect what we
can
— Joseph Gayer
public safety director
so hot in Manhattan that
Theresa Hudec said her 10-
minute wait for a bus home felt
like an hour.
“It came too hot, too soon ”
she said. “If it’s like this now,
what’s going to happen in July
and August?”
Cooler weather was
advancing across the northern
Plains and was expected to
reach the Northeast during the
weekend.
In the meantime. Hooding
caused by melting snow and
recent heavy rain in northern
Michigan led to an order for
evacuations in Ironwood.
Michigan Gov. John Engler
declared Gogebic County and
Ironwood a disaster area
Wednesday and National
Guard troops were sent to help.
“We got help from local
residents, city departments
and we’ve got high school stu
dents out here helping us
sandbag to protect what we
can,” said public safety direc
tor Joseph Gayer.
School was let out early
Tuesday at Glidden, Wis., so
youngsters could help sandbag
low-lying areas along the
Chippewa River.
On the Camden, N.J.,
waterfront, students on a class
trip fanned themselves while
walking to the Amistad, a
replica slave ship. Across the
Delaware River, a summer-like
and soupy haze hung over
Philadelphia.
“If this is a premonition of
the summer. I’m worried,” said
Bobbie Beebe of Morrisville,
Pa., sweat beading on her arms
and legs as she rested from
cutting grass at a church in
Hopewell, N.J. “It’s too early
for this.”
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Thursday, April 18
th
Doors Open at 8pm;
show starts at 1 Opm
DUNK YOUR RING
AND WEAR IT, TOO
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M*t*s** d
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