bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Scientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down's syndrome - albeit in isolated cells - raising the prospect of a radical therapy for the disorder.
US researchers took cells from people with Down's and silenced the extra chromosome that causes the condition.
A treatment based on the work remains a distant hope, but scientists said the feat was the first major step towards a "chromosome therapy" for Down's.
"This is a real technical breakthrough. It opens up whole new avenues of research," said Elizabeth Fisher, professor of neurogenetics at University College London, who was not involved in the study.

	This is a real technical breakthrough. It opens up whole new avenues of research

	Elizabeth Fisher, professor of neurogenetics at University College London
"This is the first sniff of anything to do with gene therapy for Down's syndrome."
Most babies born with Down's experience learning difficulties. Despite advances in medical care that allow most to live well into middle age, those who inherit the disorder are at risk of heart defects, bowel and blood disorders and thyroid problems. "This will accelerate our understanding of the cellular defects in Down's syndrome and whether they can be treated with certain drugs," said Jeanne Lawrence, who led the team at the University of Massachusetts.
"The long-range possibility - and it's an uncertain possibility - is a chromosome therapy for Down's syndrome.
"But that is 10 years or more away. I don't want to get people's hopes up."
In a healthy person, almost every cell in the body carries 23 pairs of chromosomes, which hold nearly all of the genes needed for human life.
But glitches in the early embryo can sometimes leave babies with too many chromosomes. Down's syndrome arises when cells have an extra copy of chromosome 21.
Lawrence's team used "genome editing", a procedure that allows DNA to be cut and pasted, to drop a gene called XIST into the extra chromosome in cells taken from people with Down's syndrome.
Once in place, the gene caused a buildup of a version of a molecule called RNA, which coated the extra chromosome and ultimately shut it down.


Major breakthrough in treatment of Down's syndrome 

Scientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down's syndrome 

News

World

Scientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down's syndrome - albeit in isolated cells - raising the prospect of a radical therapy for the disorder. US researchers took cells from people with Down's and silenced the extra chromosome that causes the condition.
