University of Sheffield walk raises money for genetic research

A university worker is taking part in a fundraising walk in memory of her cousin.

Rachel Dodd and colleagues from the University of Sheffield are walking 19 miles (30km) through the Peak District to raise funds for genetic research.

The walkers are aiming to raise £200,000 to fund a state-of-the-art Bioreactor at the university.

Ms Dodd said the walk was personal as her cousin Andrew died aged 18 of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

"He was football mad but there was lots of stuff he wasn't able to do because he spent a lot of his young life in a wheelchair," she said.

She added: "Seeing all of that and the support that's needed and how fundraising can help.

"The fact I work in an organisation where colleagues are working hard to find solutions to these conditions and many more, is a source of real pride."

The Bioreactor would help a team of scientists to produce gene therapy treatments for a number of genetic diseases.

Gene therapy modifies a person's faulty genes to treat or cure diseases, like Motor Neurone Disease.

The Sheffield research team has already helped to develop a gene therapy treatment for babies with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), which causes weakness in arms and legs and problems with breathing and eating.

According to the University of Sheffield, babies suffering from SMA previously had a life expectancy of just two years.

After a single treatment with the new gene therapy, babies are now able to breathe without a ventilator and learn to walk. Some have even been able to start school.

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