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How new fetal therapies are treating genetic conditions in the womb

A genetic condition that sees children develop almost no teeth or sweat glands can now be treated by injecting a protein into the amniotic fluid, in just one of a number of new therapies that act before a child is even born

By Clare Wilson

26 June 2023

Twin boys who received intrauterine protein therapy for ectodermal dysplasia

University Hospital Erlangen

A new wave of medical treatments are being used to re-engineer fetal bodies, countering the effects of serious genetic conditions before a child is even born. In a landmark result, several children have been treated for a condition that causes almost no sweat glands or teeth to develop. The innovative “intrauterine protein therapy” partially restored these missing body parts, the first example of any drug treatment building new anatomical structures before birth.

The approach is a twist on the kind of gene therapies already being used to…

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