Lifeboat Foundation

Gene therapy shows promise in repairing damaged brain tissue from strokes.

From the NIH Director’s Blog by Dr. Francis Collins.

It’s a race against time when someone suffers a stroke caused by a blockage of a blood vessel supplying the brain. Unless clot-busting treatment is given within a few hours after symptoms appear, vast numbers of the brain’s neurons die, often leading to paralysis or other disabilities. It would be great to have a way to replace those lost neurons. Thanks to gene therapy, some encouraging strides are now being made.

In a recent study in Molecular Therapy, researchers reported that, in their mouse and rat models of ischemic stroke, gene therapy could actually convert the brain’s support cells into new, fully functional neurons.¹ Even better, after gaining the new neurons, the animals had improved motor and memory skills.