Pace of Gene Therapy Picking Up

Abstract

AN ADVISORY committee of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Md, has given permission to investigators from the NIH's National Cancer Institute to extend their use of gene therapy in cancer. In a second action, this Recombinant Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Advisory Committee is granting permission for a clinical study that will attempt to correct the genetic defect that causes one type of excessive serum cholesterol. By a vote of 17 to zero, with one abstention, the committee thus gives permission to Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, and his associates at the National Cancer Institute to inject cancer patients with their own genetically altered malignant cells. "The goal is to manipulate the cancer cell so that it will be more susceptible to the body's natural defenses," says Rosenberg. In approving (by the same vote, 17 to zero, with one abstention) the cholesterol study, the committee also is giving permission to James