via sciencedaily.com
This article on "Synthetic RNA Lessens Severity of Fatal Disease" is very interesting. The fatal disease they mention is spinal muscular atrophy, and is the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world. I have never heard of it before.
Apparently it affects one in 6,000 children. They often die very young, and there is no cure. They are missing a gene which produces a protein that directs nerves in the spine to give commands to muscles.
This new technology could mean a big change in the death rate from this disease. Apparently the synthetic RNA works in mice that carry the genes responsible for SMA, and the significance of the disease is significantly lowered when it is in place.
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