Scientists Use New Engineered Virus to Restore Sight

[OnlinePoker]

Interesting use of viruses.

"Over the last six years, several teams of scientists have successfully treated people with a rare inherited eye disease by injecting a virus with a normal gene directly into the retina of an eye with a defective gene. Despite the invasive process, the virus with the normal gene was not capable of reaching all the retinal cells that need fixing."

More in article

http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/article01157-virus-sight.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Genetically modified canarypox virus is used in state-of-the-art cat vaccines.

Extremely safe. Extremely effective.

[phantom power]

2. every so often I get to feel like I'm living in the *good* science fiction future

(instead of all the various dystopian science fiction futures I usually feel like I'm living in)

[OnlinePoker]

4. In the "good" SF future, these treatments would be free.

Somehow, I don't think these would be covered under most people's basic medical.

[SidDithers]

3. DU rec...

they're doing really interesting work with genetically modified herpes virus too, using it to fight some ovarian and breast cancers

http://scienceblogs.com/erv/2013/02/04/new-weapon-in-the-pipeline-gmo-herpes-vs-ovarian-and-breast-cancer-metastasis/

Thanks for posting.

Sid