Timeline
1985 - Dr. W. French Anderson and Dr. Michael Blaese worked together and found that cells from patients with ADA deficiency can be corrected in tissue culture. They used a retrovirus to carry the correct human ADA gene to the cells. [3]
1986 - The team studied how safely and efficient the correct genes were transferred into bone marrow cells in animals. The result of the process was not harmful, but the number of cells that received the correct gene was too small to be useful. [3]
1988 - The researchers decided to use white blood cells (T cells), instead of bone marrow cells. This switch increased the number of correct genes taken up by the cells in animals. The experiments were successful and decided to test it on humans. [3]
1989 - The team worked with Dr. Steven Rosenberg to test the experiments on patients with cancer. The team grew tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL cells) from people with deadly cancer malignant, melanoma, and then they engineered a virus to put a DNA marker into those cells. These "marked TIL cells" helped the researchers learn two things: which TIL cells work best to treat cancer; and that the treatment is safe on humans. [3]
1990 - Dr. Anderson, Dr. Blaese, and Dr. Culver used a virus to deliver the correct ADA gene to a four-year old girl and a nine-year old girl with ADA deficiency. The treatment lasted for two years. [3]
Present - There are still many risk factors for gene therapy to be a confident treatment. [3]
1988 - The researchers decided to use white blood cells (T cells), instead of bone marrow cells. This switch increased the number of correct genes taken up by the cells in animals. The experiments were successful and decided to test it on humans. [3]
1989 - The team worked with Dr. Steven Rosenberg to test the experiments on patients with cancer. The team grew tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL cells) from people with deadly cancer malignant, melanoma, and then they engineered a virus to put a DNA marker into those cells. These "marked TIL cells" helped the researchers learn two things: which TIL cells work best to treat cancer; and that the treatment is safe on humans. [3]
1990 - Dr. Anderson, Dr. Blaese, and Dr. Culver used a virus to deliver the correct ADA gene to a four-year old girl and a nine-year old girl with ADA deficiency. The treatment lasted for two years. [3]
Present - There are still many risk factors for gene therapy to be a confident treatment. [3]
The First gene therapy
A four-year old girl became the first gene therapy patient on September 14, 1990. She is a patient with the disease, adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, which is a genetic disease where the patient is vulnerable to infections. White blood cells were taken from her, and the normal genes for making adenosine deaminase were inserted into the cells. The corrected cells were re-injected into her. [3]