Familys gene therapy journey

Published: Jan. 11, 2023, 9 p.m.

In this week\u2019s episode of Health Check, we meet the Poulin family who live in Thailand. They tell us about their long quest to have their little girl Rylae-Ann diagnosed with an incredibly rare disease. And that\u2019s just the beginning of the story.

Rylae-Ann was fortunate enough to have gene therapy on a clinical trial in Taiwan \u2013 and it has transformed her life \u2013 but it\u2019s not a treatment that\u2019s available to everyone.

Joining presenter Smitha Mundasad in the studio is family doctor Graham Easton, who\u2019ll discuss why that\u2019s the case \u2013 and what the risks are around this experimental treatment and the ethics of diagnosing rare conditions.

We\u2019ll also hear from a scientist in Vancouver on her fascinating research which has discovered a compound in a sea sponge that blocks Covid-19 in human cells in the lab.

And we\u2019ll have the latest on the virus in China, as concerns grow about its spread ahead of the Lunar New Year, and a rather unusual study about a very small trial in London involving scars being treated using transplanted hair.

Presenter: Smitha Mundasad\nProducer: Gerry Holt and Tess Davidson