Cerebral Hemispheres 2
NEUROSCIENTIFICALLY CHALLENGED

NEUROSCIENCE MADE SIMPLER

Gene Therapy: Struggling to Leave the Past Behind


Gene therapy is a relatively new method of treatment that involves replacing the defective allele of a gene with a functional one. The technique, originally thought to hold great potential for the treatment of genetic diseases, was at first greeted with excitement and enthusiasm. This enthusiasm continued to grow after the first successful administration of gene therapy in 1990, to improve the health of four-year old Ashanthi Desilva (born with severe combined immunodeficiency).

Since then, however, gene therapy has had its ups and downs, hitting rock bottom with the death of 19-year old Jesse Gelsinger in 1990. Gelsinger wasn’t in a life or death situation. He volunteered for the study because of a brush with death he had early in life due to a genetically inherited liver disease. He volunteered with the hopes that a cure would relieve others from suffering through some of the trials he had as a young boy. Gelsinger, however, wasn’t informed of some of the possible dangers of the treatment he was about to undergo—dangers that the scientists involved in the study were cognizant of. They neglected to tell him, and he died several days after treatment.

Since then, gene therapy has struggled to creep out from under the shadow of that dark incident. Continued successes, however, indicate that gene therapy may still have the opportunity to live up to its once heralded potential. One example is a study reported this week in the New England Journal of Medicine that describes successfully using gene therapy to restore vision in three young adults born with severe blindness.

The subjects suffer from a disease known as Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), which usually leads to complete blindness by middle age and is thought to be caused by a mutation in a gene called retinal pigment epithelium 65 (RPE65). The gene encodes for a protein that converts vitamin A into a form that can be used by the rods and cones of the eye to make rhodopsin (a pigment that absorbs light).

The researchers injected one eye of each patient with a harmless virus carrying the healthy form of the RPE65 gene. After only two weeks, all of the participants reported improved vision in dimly lit environments. Within six weeks, some of the patients were able to read several lines of an eye chart or navigate an obstacle course—dramatic improvements over their previous levels of legal blindness. The researchers involved suggest that, due to the efficacy of this treatment, it could eventually be applied to other eye disorders, such as macular degeneration.

Every advance made in the use of gene therapy is a major one, as after the death of Jesse Gelsinger, many were quick to condemn the use of the procedure as unsafe and irresponsible. While the scientists involved in the Gelsinger debacle deserve those criticisms, the procedure itself holds great promise for understanding and ameliorating some of the worst afflictions humans face. Hopefully one day the number of lives improved and saved through the use of gene therapy will soften the sting of the egregious mistakes made in its early history.

YOUR BRAIN, EXPLAINED

Sleep. Memory. Pleasure. Fear. Language. We experience these things every day, but how do our brains create them? Your Brain, Explained is a personal tour around your gray matter. Building on neuroscientist Marc Dingman’s popular YouTube series, 2-Minute Neuroscience, this is a friendly, engaging introduction to the human brain and its quirks using real-life examples and Dingman’s own, hand-drawn illustrations.

  • Dingman weaves classic studies with modern research into easily digestible sections, to provide an excellent primer on the rapidly advancing field of neuroscience. - Moheb Costandi, author, Neuroplasticity and 50 Human Brain Ideas You Really Need to Know

  • Reading like a collection of detective stories, Your Brain, Explained combines classic cases in the history of neurology with findings stemming from the latest techniques used to probe the brain’s secrets. - Stanley Finger, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University (St. Louis), author, Origins of Neuroscience

  • An informative, accessible and engaging book for anyone who has even the slightest interest in how the brain works, but doesn’t know where to begin. - Dean Burnett, PhD, author, Happy Brain and Idiot Brain

  • ...a highly readable and accessible introduction to the operation of the brain and current issues in neuroscience... a wonderful introduction to the field. - Frank Amthor, PhD, Professor of Psychology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, author, Neuroscience for Dummies

BIZARRE

This book shows a whole other side of how brains work by examining the most unusual behavior to emerge from the human brain. In it, you'll meet a woman who is afraid to take a shower because she fears her body will slip down the drain, a man who is convinced he is a cat, a woman who compulsively snacks on cigarette ashes, and many other unusual cases. As uncommon as they are, each of these cases has something important to teach us about everyday brain function.

  • A unique combination of storytelling and scientific explanation that appeals to the brain novice, the trained neuroscientist, and everyone in between. Dingman explores some of the most fascinating and mysterious expressions of human behavior in a style that is case study, dramatic novel, and introductory textbook all rolled into one. - Alison Kreisler, PhD, Neuroscience Instructor, California State University, San Marcos

  • Dingman brings the history of neuroscience back to life and weaves in contemporary ideas seamlessly. Readers will come along for the ride of a really interesting read and accidentally learn some neuroscience along the way. - Erin Kirschmann, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology & Counseling, Immaculata University

  • Bizarre is a collection of stories of how the brain can create zombies, cult members, extra limbs, instant musicians, and overnight accents, to name a few of the mind-scratching cases. After reading this book, you will walk away with a greater appreciation for this bizarre organ. If you are a fan of Oliver Sacks' books, you're certain to be a fan of Dingman's Bizarre. - Allison M. Wilck, PhD, Researcher and Assistant Professor of Psychology, Eastern Mennonite University

  • Through case studies of both exceptional people as well as those with disorders, Bizarre takes us on a fascinating journey in which we learn more about what is going on in our skull. - William J. Ray, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, author, Abnormal Psychology