X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (XSCID) may soon be curable
In a lucky twist of fate, experiments on basset hounds with “bubble boy” disease, or XSCID, have been successful in giving them healthy immune systems, even a year after the treatment. This new method consists of injecting a corrected gene via an engineered virus into the bloodstream of the patient - in this case, basset hounds.
Three of the four basset hounds retained the normal functioning of their immune systems for more than a year after the treatment, and this could spell big hopes for human sufferers of XSCID. The only reason the fourth dog didn’t retain immunity was that a lower dose was used, which suggests, as the article points out, that there’s a lower limit, or threshold, to the dosage that should be used.
Researchers caution that human XSCID treatments, including treatments for other severe immunodeficiency diseases, are still in the future, but it looks like engineered viruses are the way to go when it comes to these diseases. I for one hope for the best. It must be horrible to go through life in a bubble, and those who suffer from this condition must wish, above anything, to be normal.
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