Patients with Parkinson's have reduced levels of a chemical - GABA - in part of the brain known as the subthalamic nucleus.The researchers created a virus which "infects" cells with a gene to increase GABA production.
In the trial, 22 patients had the virus injected into their brains while 23 patients had "sham surgery", to make them think they had the virus injected. Their motor function was then scored over six months.
Patients who had gene therapy showed a 23.1% improvement in their motor score, those with sham surgery improved by 12.7%.
However there have been concerns about the safety of gene therapy. In 1999, Jesse Gelsinger died during a trial in the US and there were cases of leukaemia after treatment in France.
Dr Michelle Gardner, research development manager at Parkinson's UK, said: "This research shows the promise of gene therapy for neurological conditions like Parkinson's, but further research is still needed.
"We still don't know for how long the benefits of this treatment may last, or whether there may be long-term problems due to introducing viruses into the brain."
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12758230)
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