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So at the moment, the
options are very limited.
There are no cures for lupus.
And most of the treatments
that exist at the moment still
fail to treat the most
severe manifestations.
Autoimmune diseases are
a global problem that
affects 5% of the population.
So we have placed
very strong emphasis
on setting up a large
international network.
The Center for
Personalized Immunology
has a very large
network of clinicians
that contribute patients
with very extreme cases
of autoimmune diseases.
And this is a very powerful
sample set for the researchers
to work with to understand
how these diseases work.
We work with clinicians
from countries including
Spain, Germany, the
southeastern European countries
like Macedonia and
Croatia, the Middle East,
including Oman and Turkey.
We've got samples from some
South American countries,
as well, and of course, the very
strong presence here in China.
So we have known for a long
time that autoimmune diseases
had a strong genetic basis.
But we didn't know which
mutations cause disease.
The challenge and
the opportunity
now with these new
sequencing technologies
is to identify the
precise mutations that
cause disease in each patient.
So what we do at the
CPI that is unique
is that we start with a patient.
We find that mutations.
We prove that those
mutations cause disease.
We understand how
they cause disease.
And then we find a therapy and
can get back to that patient.
So up until now, there hasn't
been a cure or treatments
that are effective.
And in fact, some
of the treatments
cause serious side effects.
What our research
is allowing us to do
is to start treating some
patients with therapies
that are very specific and
can change their lives.
And it's our hope
that the number
of patients that we can treat
will continue to increase.
