Will it change the face of medicine? A revolutionary new treatment has saved one little boy’s life. Now some hope it might save others – and even end genetic disorders forever.
Boy ‘defies odds’ with new gene therapy
Ground-breaking research: Oliver Chu, known as Ollie, is the first of five young children with Hunter Syndrome, medically known as Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), to be part of the Central Manchester University Hospital study.
Glossary
Genes - Sections of DNA strands that act as a kind of instruction manual for a human being. There is still a great deal we do not understand about how they work.
Millennia - Thousands of years.
Cross-breeding - Producing an animal or plant by mating or hybridising two different species, breeds, or varieties.
Discrete - Individually separate and distinct.
Exhilarating - An experience or feeling that creates a strong sense of excitement and joy, often associated with thrill or elation.
Genetic disorder - A health problem caused by abnormalities in a person's genetic make-up.
Enzyme - A protein that acts as a biological catalyst, accelerating chemical reactions.
Gene Therapy - A medical treatment that aims to fix or replace a faulty gene to treat or cure a genetic disease.
Stem cells - Unspecialised cells that have the ability to develop into different types of cell.
Virus - A very small piece of material that causes disease.
Infused - When a fluid, like a drug or saline solution, has been slowly introduced into a patient's bloodstream through a vein (intravenous infusion).
Biotech - The use of biology to develop new products and technology.