Subject: AIDS Study on Twins Cleared by NIH
Date: Published: 10/7/92 (36 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Technology & Health:
    Gene-Therapy Trials,
    AIDS Study on Twins
    Are Cleared by NIH

    WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health has approved two
 genetherapy trials for treating cancer and an AIDS study that it
 says could pave the way for future gene therapies.
    Genetic Therapy Inc. said it won NIH approval to insert into
 cancerous cells of certain lung-cancer patients a gene that has the
 potential to slow the growth rate of tumor cells.
    The Gaithersburg, Md., concern also said it received permission
 to transfer Interleukin-4 (IL-4), a protein that causes immune cells
 to grow, into certain cancer patients' tumor cells.  The object is to
 improve the response of the body's natural immune system to cancer
 cells.
    Both trials also need approval from the Food and Drug
 Administration.
    The NIH's recombinant DNA advisory committee also approved an
 AIDS study involving identical twins.  Specifically, it authorized
 NIH scientists to study the safety and survival of genetically
 tagged white blood cells in sets of twins where one twin is infected
 with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and one isn't.
    According to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the
 scientists will remove white blood cells from uninfected twins, tag
 them with a bacterial neomycin resistance gene, then infuse them
 into the HIV-positive twins.  The scientists then will track the
 cells to see how long they survive.

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