Gene therapy has helped boys like Conner walk. Scientists are trying to keep it that way

In the beginning, Conner Curran ran up the stairs.

It was a miraculous moment for him and his parents, Jess and Chris Curran. Just months before, contractors were in their New York home to install a motorized lift, while Jess tearfully explained that it wasn’t for a grandparent but for their 7-year-old son, who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy and could barely haul himself up the steps.

Then Conner was accepted as the first patient in Pfizer’s Duchenne gene therapy trial. Three weeks later, he could bound to the second floor. Soon, he could walk the two-plus miles to Goldberg’s, a local bagel shop. “I couldn’t do that before,” he told NPR in 2020. 

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