An eight-month-old baby became the first to receive an experimental gene therapy treatment for a serious genetic disorder in which a missing gene causes intractable epilepsy, in another medical miracle story coming out of Israel this month.

In addition to epilepsy, the disorder causes developmental delays and, frequently, premature death. While the mutation is found worldwide, it is particularly prevalent among Yemeni Jews.

The groundbreaking research on the WWOX gene was laid by Prof. Rami Aqeilan of the Lautenberg Center for Immunology and Cancer Research at the university’s Faculty of Medicine in a pioneering collaboration between Jewish and Arab scientists. Dr. Naama Orenstein and Dr. Dror Kraus of Schneider Children’s Medical Center performed the surgery in May, injecting healthy copies of the WWOX gene directly into the infant’s brain neurons. The baby is now home and doing well.

“What began as a scientific effort to understand the biological function of a gene has now become a potential treatment for children suffering from one of the most severe forms of epilepsy,” Aqeilan said.