Therapeutic/Technology: Gene-modified, personalized cell therapy
Stem Cell Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD), which results from an inherited mutation in the hemoglobin gene that causes red blood cells to “sickle” under conditions of low oxygen, occurs with a frequency of 1/500 African-Americans, and is also common in Hispanic-Americans, who comprise up to 5% of SCD patients in California. The median survival based on 1991 […]
HPSC based therapy for HIV disease using RNAi to CCR5.
RNA interference is a naturally occurring means to block the function of genes in our body. We propose that RNA interference can be used to block HIV-1 infection and its reproduction within the body. When RNA interference is introduced into a stem cell, its blocking activity will be present throughout the lifetime of the stem […]
iPS Cell-Based Treatment of Dominant Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa
Genetic skin diseases constitute a diverse group of several hundred diseases that affect up to 2% of the population and include common disease such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and wound healing. Patients with one genetic disease, dystrophic Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), lack a normal collagen VII (COL7A1) gene and suffer from debilitating blistering and scarring that […]
ZINC FINGER NUCLEASE-BASED STEM CELL THERAPY FOR AIDS
Some years ago it was discovered that patients homozygous for a natural mutation (the Δ32 mutation) in the CCR5 gene are generally resistant to HIV infection by blocking virus entry to a cell. Building on this observation, a study published in 2009 reported a potential “cure” in an AIDS patient with leukemia after receiving a […]