in the body

Slowing down Huntington’s disease
By inhibiting caspase-1 and the upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthetase in mice, Boston researchers believe that they may have taken the first step in delaying death from Huntington’s disease (Nature Med. 2000, 6, 797–801). The researchers reported that minocycline slowed the appearance of disease symptoms and prolonged survival in mice suffering from a Huntington’s model disorder, but they warned that clinical trials would be necessary to prove the drug’s effectiveness in humans.

Milk of rabbit kindness
Four infants suffering from Pompe’s disease, a muscular disorder that leads to death within the first year of life, were successfully treated by Dutch physicians with recombinant human alpha-glucosidase (rhGAA) isolated from the milk of rabbits transgenic for the human gene (Lancet 2000, 356, 398–399). All four children have passed the critical one-year mark.

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