In 2012 the European union authorized
UniQure to use Glybera gene therapy for commercial use. The medicine
sends a virus into your body, containing the correct genetic code.
The therapy, developed by UniQure uses a virus to infect muscle
cells with a working copy of the gene. Once the virus infects muscle
cells, the correct code overwrites the bad DNA.
Glybera is used to treat lipoprotein lipase deficiency. One in a
million people have damaged copies of a gene which is essential for
breaking down fats. It means fat builds up in the blood leading to
abdominal pain and life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas,
pancreatitis.
A few years ago, three academic groups showed that AAV2, another
adeno-associated virus, can correct a rare form of inherited
blindness, by targeting a certain cell type within the retina.
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