drug similar to Wilson's did not work.
If Boucher was right, Wilson would have to ditch the drug he had spent a year developing, and redirect much of the research at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Human Gene Therapy, where he is the director.
It would mean that science was much further away from controlling cystic fibrosis than many had thought, and that proposed therapies for other genetic diseases might also be in trouble.
But Wilson didn't think that Boucher's article had proved the point. He wanted to know if Boucher had more damning data that he hadn't made public.
Even though they were competitors in the race to develop the first effective gene drug, Wilson was sure that his friend and colleague of 10 years would be open with him.
*
More than 2,300 scientists, nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists and other health-care providers had flown in from all over the world to attend the ninth annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference.
With more gene-therapy research being done on CF than any other disease, the four-day conference, sponsored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, had become an important one for gene therapists. Boucher was to be one of the speakers.
CF is considered an ideal disease for developing gene therapy because it is caused by a single defective gene, which has been identified.
Scientists believe they can control CF by replacing the defective genes with healthy ones, using adenoviruses as "vectors" to deliver them to the patient's lung cells.
The new genes then make the protein CF patients lack and need to keep their airways free of mucus.
At least that's what researchers like Wilson are hoping.
Wilson spent the first two days of the meeting chairing one symposium and attending several others. Finally, it was time for Boucher's talk.
