Disease/Therapy Research
Common Cold:
1. The common cold is caused by a virus. More than 200 types lead to your misery, but the most common one is the rhinovirus, which brings on 10% to 40% of colds. The coronavirus is responsible for about 20% of cases, while the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and parainfluenza virus cause 10% of colds. 2. Currently there is no known cure for any of these variants of the common cold. Medicines are used to help the body fight the virus more effectively such as decongestants containing pseudoephedrine or suppressants such as those containing dextromethorphan. 3. Viral immunotherapy uses viruses to introduce specific antigens to the patient's immune system. Unlike traditional vaccines, viral immunotherapy uses genetically engineered viruses to present a specific antigen to the immune system. |
HIV/AIDS:
1. HIV is a virus that causes AIDS. The virus is called the human immunodeficiency virus. It can be transmitted through contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids; mother to baby by pregnancy, labor, or nursing. 2. There is no cure currently. Strict adherence to anti-retroviral regimens (ARVs) can dramatically slow the disease's progress as well as prevent secondary infections and complications.
3. Viral gene therapy would be a good option to consider. Viral gene therapy usually uses non-replicating viruses to deliver therapeutic genes to cells directly. In this case it would be more effective to deliver a gene which may be helpful in preventing a disease. |
Arthritis:
1. The type of arthritis our company would be focusing on is rheumatoid arthritis or RA. In rheumatoid arthritis, the body's immune system attacks the lining of the joint capsule, a tough membrane that encloses all the joint parts. This lining, known as the synovial membrane, becomes inflamed and swollen. The disease process can eventually destroy cartilage and bone within the joint. 2. The medications used to treat arthritis vary depending on the type of arthritis. Commonly used arthritis medications include: Analgesics Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) Counterirritants Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) Biologic response modifiers Corticosteroids If someone has RA, their doctor may put them on corticosteroids or disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which suppress the immune system. The only issues with these techniques is that they do not prevent arthritis from occurring, only deal with the symptoms. 3. Using gene therapy, one could possibly replace the defective cells of the immune system that is attacking the lining of the joint capsule. Instead of suppressing the immune system, our group hopes to make the immune system fully functional. |
Hunter Syndrome:
1. Hunter syndrome is caused when the child's mother passes down a defective chromosome. Because of that defective chromosome, an enzyme that's needed to break down complex sugar molecules is missing or malfunctions. There risk factors that make a person more likely to inherit the disease, family history and sex. Hunter's syndrome is an X-linked recessive disease, so only the women are able to pass it on but the women are also unaffected by the disease. Hunter syndrome nearly always occurs in males. 2. There is no cure for Hunter syndrome. Treatment focuses on managing the effects of the disease instead of curing it. Respiratory issues can be temporarily addressed but there is always the possibility that they return. Surgery to strengthen skeletal and connective tissue or to replace malfunctioning heart valves, etc, is available as well. These methods are very expensive and dangerous. 3. Enzyme therapy could be an option for treatment. This treatment would use man-made or genetically engineered enzymes to replace the missing or defective enzymes and ease/cure the diseases symptoms. Other clinics have administered early versions of this treatment once a week through an intravenous (IV) line. Gene therapy is another option. Replacing the chromosome responsible for producing the defective enzyme could cure Hunter syndrome. |
Our group will be further pursuing a cure for Hunter syndrome.
Our next step was to create a product proposal, and then we presented our product to an expert.