The two infants, 11 months and eight months old, suffered from a
rare life-threatening disorder called severe combined
immunodeficiency. Because a genetic mutation kept their immune
systems from fending off even the most innocuous infections,
both faced lifelong confinement in sterile shielded
environments. Now, 10 months after undergoing treatment in
France to correct the defect, these "bubble babies" are out of
their bubbles--back at home and acting for all the world like
normal babies. Doctors have successfully treated many young SCID
patients before with various types of bone-marrow transplants.
What distinguishes these two babies, researchers reported in
Science last week, is that they are the first to be treated,
apparently successfully, entirely by gene therapy. Says Dr.
Alain Fischer, who headed the gene team at Hopital Necker-
Enfants Malades in Paris: "Preliminary evidence is of a faster
and more complete immune reconstitution after gene therapy."
Typically, gene therapists use viruses to deliver rep