Thursday, November 05, 2009 MELBOURNE: A "miracle" Australian baby has become the first person cured of a rare and deadly brain-melting condition after doctors gambled on an experimental drug tested only on mice, they said on Thursday.The child, known only as "Baby Z", was facing a painful death of seizures and brain damage from molybdenum cofactor deficiency, a genetic defect which causes a build-up of toxic sulphite and usually kills in months.But she made an amazing recovery just three days after first being given the untested treatment which was flown in from Germany and rushed through the courts."We are looking at her now and she is just an absolute miracle -- she has defied everybody," her mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told reporters.Baby Z started having seizures within 60 hours of her birth in May 2008, prompting her family to appeal to biochemist Rob Gianello to help beat the previously incurable condition which affects just one i...
Get to know about News and lifestyle