Gene therapy uproar. Texas researchers say pessimism is unfounded.

When the New England Journal of Medicine published articles in late September showing that two gene therapy studies involving muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis patients had not produced positive results, the so-called "failure" was widely reported in the news media, sometimes in funeral tones. The reports created a distinct impression that researchers trying to find ways to use gene therapy techniques to treat a wide variety of diseases had made promises they could not keep.