My neighbor was a 6-year-old boy from central MA diagnosed with a rare pediatric brain cancer after a sports accident.  There were no effective treatments and a lack of research funding.  The disease eventually won despite the staggering efforts of family, friends and providers, and our community suffered greatly from the loss.

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Over 5% of newborns suffer from a genetic disease. These include single gene, polygenic and chromosomal disorders. Many other non-congenital diseases with genetic components are activated by environmental triggers (autoimmune, cancer, tissue injury).

Sophisticated viral therapies could treat, and possibly cure, these diseases and significantly ease patient burden and improve quality of life.

Current viral therapies are mostly limited to plasmid-based and Adeno-associated virus variants with inefficient response rates and limited use, with some herpes, lenti, and retroviral modalities. Development is slow and expensive.

That simply isn't good enough.