An 8-month-old baby has undergone the world’s first treatment in which a gene was inserted directly into his brain. This treatment took place at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, Israel. This is considered a major achievement of medical science.
Israeli doctors have achieved this historic achievement in the medical world. An eight-month-old baby has been successfully treated for a rare and deadly genetic epilepsy by delivering gene therapy directly into his brain. An 8-month-old baby has been given a unique gene replacement therapy for the first time in the world. This information has been given by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The child looked absolutely healthy at the time of birth. But at the age of 6 weeks he started having severe epileptic seizures. When the doctors investigated, it was found that an essential gene named WWOX was missing or defective in the child’s body. This caused a very rare and dangerous disease called WOREE Syndrome. In this disease, the child suffers from continuous epilepsy, brain development stops and sometimes even death can occur.
How was the treatment?
Professor Rami Akilan of Israel’s Hebrew University did research on this gene for more than 10 years. He experimented on rats to see how important this gene is for the development of the brain. If this gene is not present then epilepsy, lack of brain development and danger to life occur.
They created a special virus (called AAV9) into which the healthy WWOX gene was inserted. This virus delivers genes only to brain cells. Doctors injected this gene therapy directly into the child’s brain.
What happened after the treatment?
After one month of treatment, the child was discharged from the hospital and went home. Till now he has not had the severe epileptic seizures which could have taken his life earlier. The child is stable and doctors are continuously monitoring him. Doctors will have to watch over the long term to see how effective the treatment is, but early results show great promise.
His contribution was
- Pro. Rami Akilan (Hebrew University)
- Dr. Naama Orenstein and Dr. Dror Kraus (Schneider Hospital)
- Mahaji Therapeutics Company (US-Israel)
On this special occasion, Prof. Akilan said, “This is the result of many years of hard work. First we just understood the role of the gene, then found a way to transmit it to the brain. Today it has become a ray of hope for the child.”
Why is this important?
The problem of the WWOX gene is more common in the Jewish community of Yemen, but many children around the world are affected by it. This treatment could open a new path not just for one child, but for all children with rare genetic epilepsy. There is still a long way to go, but this first step is a big one.
This achievement has brought new hope in the treatment of genetic diseases. Experts believe that WWOX gene therapy may also open new avenues for patients with other rare genetic disorders in the future. The child’s condition is currently being monitored and doctors will study the results over a long period of time.
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