11.   The treatment marks the first time gene therapy has been tried for a chronic disease that is not life threatening.

12.   They can try alternative therapies or do nothing at all.

13.   Patients had to have some residual arm movement to try the therapy.

14.   Before the gene therapy could be tried in humans, questions about safety would have to be answered, Dawson said.

15.   But researchers caution that many safety questions must be resolved before they can try the therapy on humans.

16.   Dawson said there are still questions about safety that would have to be answered before the gene therapy could be tried in humans.

17.   The FDA decides whether scientists can try experimental therapies in people based on safety studies in animals.

18.   These patients have had few options but to try standard therapy again in hopes of buying some time.