Update: February 2011

Dear Members of the PKU Association,

I thought I’d bring you up to date with the current state of play with regards to the PKU research we’re doing.

Firstly, Gladys’s, continues to undertake her work identifying the gene mutations in PKU patients in our clinic.  This will help us in gauging which patients might be responsive to BH4 when that becomes available (hopefully by the end of this year).  She is also doing good work understanding how specific gene mutations affect the PKU enzyme.

Secondly, Tong continues to tweak our probiotic system whilst the PKU mice are doing their thing.  Naz, our new PhD student will be starting with us in February.  After a period of training, we should be able to start the mouse trial work hopefully in April.

However, funding the research is a constant struggle. We have had numerous discussions with corporations close to the PKU community coming on board and assist in the funding of the mouse studies. However, in recent discussions, they have reconsidered the prospect, citing concerns about how the European community would react to GM probiotics.  Subsequently, we’ve initiated conversations with other potential commercial partners. We have also been looking for potential competitive grant funding bodies, both domestically and abroad.

In the immediate future, we are relying on the research funding raised by the Association and its partners. Many thanks for your support and generosity.