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Here's today's feel-good story:
A team of researchers from all around the world has identified a cause of Lupus, an autoimmune disease with no cure that causes inflammation in organs and joints.
Lupus affects around a quarter-million people in both the US and UK with current treatments working to suppress the immune system to alleviate symptoms.
Scientists have finally discovered a way to carry out genome sequencing on DNA from a girl who was diagnosed with the disease at 7 years old.
“It has been a huge challenge to find effective treatments for lupus, and the immune-suppressors currently being used can have serious side effects and leave patients more susceptible to infection,” said senior author, principal investigator, and leader of the new Autoimmunity Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, Carola Vinuesa, “There has only been a single new treatment approved by the FDA in about the last 60 years.”