If you were sick, wouldn’t you prefer a customized medical treatment that works specifically for you? Or a treatment that prevents you from ever getting sick in the first place? The emerging field of clinical and translational science provides the bridging force that transforms lab discoveries into customized, patient-specific therapy.

As a brain-damaged woman named Terri Schiavo lived her final days in 2005, her family's bitter feuding imparted a tragic lesson about the importance of specifying one's wishes for end-of-life medical treatment.

Researchers at Queen Mary University London and the University of Leicester and have today (Friday June 1) announced a potential breakthrough in the treatment of a rare but devastating medical condition that can affect children and young people.