Using HIV to cure

the disease made famous by the film "Lorenzo's Oil" is now being treated experimentally with gene therapy.

The BBC reports:
They used a harmless version of the HIV virus as a vector to carrying a corrected version of the gene into the bone marrow cell.

The HIV virus, which can lead to Aids, is the only one known to be capable of carrying a gene into the nucleus of non-dividing cells... the process needed if the treatment is to have a long-term effect.

The treated bone marrow was then reinjected back into the boys.

Results at both six months and a year suggested the production of the missing enzyme had noticeably improved.