Belfast City Hospital in Ulster, Northern Ireland, is one of two British hospitals joining one of the largest gene therapy trials ever held. This is the first time a centre in Northern Ireland will have conducted gene therapy. The hospital in Belfast is a centre for excellence for vascular and cardiovascular treatments and has met the exacting standards set by the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) which regulates research in this area.

The new gene therapy trial is a unique study that seeks to use corrected forms of a gene to help patients affected by a condition known as intermittent claudication - blocked arteries in the legs. The condition is common in the UK, affecting almost 15 per cent of adults over 65 years old, causing disabling pain in the legs during walking and physical activity.

Doctors plan to try a technique whereby an engineered form of a human gene is injected into the patients' legs to see if this can stimulate the patient's own body to generate new blood vessels bypassing the blocked arteries and avoiding the need for surgery. The technology has been developed by 'Genzyme', a global biotech company.

Thirty five centres across Europe and the US will take part in the trials. It is thought that between ten and twenty patients in Northern Ireland will be identified to undergo the procedure. Treatment is expected to begin at the end of June. It is also predicted that four more clinics in the UK will eventually join the hospitals in Dundee and Belfast involved presently. Louis Lau, consultant vascular surgeon at Belfast City Hospital said, 'we are trying to harness the body's own ability to make new blood vessels with the hope of improving circulation in patients' limbs', adding 'if successful, this approach could be an important advance for patients who suffer from blocked arteries'.