This article detailed current research about how, although low bone density and osteoporosis is quite prevalent in the public eye, that excessive bone density and subsequent diseases also present a significant medical challenge. The article reported that such diseases of excessive bone density, such as malignant infantile osteopetrosis, or MIOP, are only currently treated with a risky transplant procedure, but research has shown that gene therapy might provide a safe and effective alternative. This therapy would allow experts to extract stem cells from the patients themselves, eliminating any external donor, and have the non-functioning gene replaced with a working copy, and then reinserted into the patient. Researchers note that the method is not risk-free, and that much work is still required before the technique is ready for practical application.
View the original article here: Gene Therapy as a Cure for Fatal Bone Diseases in Children?
