A genetic therapy that lasts for years has been approved to treat a potentially fatal immune disorder that makes children need to be isolated from infection

Looking for a long-term solution Klaus Guldbrandsen/Science Photo Library

“We nearly lost him twice,” says Kelly Gillion of her son Zeus, who was diagnosed with the potentially fatal condition ADA-SCID in the first weeks of his life.

Until now the only commercial treatment for the condition has been a bone marrow transplant, and many die before a donor is found. But last week, a gene therapy to treat it was rubber-stamped for approval by a committee of the European Medicines Agency, potentially giving all patients in Europe access to a treatment that enables them to build lifelong immune systems with …