NBC Nightly News - 1993-11-12 - 2 of 2
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Read a transcript preview of “NBC Nightly News - 1993-11-12 - 2 of 2” from malgent, uploaded on 2026-01-14.
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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] disease kills more Americans than any
[0:02] other illness. Now on the horizon, a new
[0:05] method of treatment using genetic
[0:06] engineering. Previously thought of as a
[0:09] science fiction, it's now showing real
[0:11] life results. NBC science correspondent
[0:13] Robert Bazelle. Now
[0:16] >> researchers in this laboratory have for
[0:17] the first time used gene therapy to
[0:19] treat heart disease. They have begun to
[0:22] employ the most advanced high technology
[0:24] medicine in the effort to combat the
[0:26] nation's number one killer. We
[0:28] accomplished with this uh gene therapy
[0:32] what we had set out to accomplish and uh
[0:35] we're delighted with the result.
[0:37] >> A major factor in heart disease is a set
[0:39] of genes we inherit from our parents.
[0:42] These genes determine how well the liver
[0:44] removes cholesterol from the
[0:46] bloodstream. Some people are born with
[0:48] defective genes so that cholesterol
[0:50] builds up to very high levels in their
[0:52] bloodstreams.
[0:53] >> Okay, let's have a clear up for the
[0:54] order. Patients with this condition who
[0:57] usually die of heart disease at an early
[0:59] age were the first to get the gene
[1:01] therapy.
[1:02] >> So far, the gene therapy for inherited
[1:04] high cholesterol has been performed on a
[1:06] 29year-old woman, a 12-year-old boy, and
[1:09] a 7-year-old girl. All are doing well.
[1:12] The patients have not been identified,
[1:14] but here is how the treatment works.
[1:16] Surgeons remove a piece of the patient's
[1:18] liver. Maryanne Gman, one of the
[1:20] scientists, breaks up the liver into
[1:23] individual cells that grow in laboratory
[1:25] dishes. She then adds a solution to the
[1:27] cells containing a harmless viru