David Vetter, the baby in the photograph above, has Severe Combine Immunodeficiency disease. This disease became well-known in the 70s and 80s because of this young boy. He lived in this germ-free bubble for 12 years thus giving the disease the name "bubble baby" syndrome. Recently, within the past week, The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence published an article stating that they can possibly cure this rare disease using gene therapy. However, the cost of the treatment would be 500,000 euros which is approximately 600,000 US dollars. This gene therapy is very specialized and is only offered in one hospital in Italy. This is an alternative for those who do not have stem cell donors.
I believe that due to the cost of this therapy, the public would not make much use of this innovative technology. Hopefully in the future the cost of this therapy will decrease so that more people can take advantage of this option for treatment of rare diseases.
Cites:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/23/gene-therapy-for-bubble-baby-syndrome-approved-on-nhs-strimvelis
http://www.scid.net/
