RESEARCH which could hold the key to curing a rare genetic disease, which causes kidney failure in children, is being carried out at a new multi-million pound science complex in the North-East.

As a result of their ongoing research into improving life-saving drugs used to treat cystinosis, pharmaceutical scientists at Sunderland University have received funding from America to carry out a three-year study into the disease using the latest research techniques.

There is still no cure for cystinosis which occurs when the body's mechanism to remove excess cystine - an amino acid - breaks down, leading to kidney problems and eventually affecting other organs.

If left untreated, the disease can result in kidney failure before a child reaches the age of 10; until very recently, it was rare for patients to live beyond the age of 20.

Now funding from the US charity, Cystinosis Research Network (CRN), will see Professor Roz Anderson head up a team of academics to learn more about the disease, identify biomarkers to help improve detection and early diagnosis, as well as develop new targets for intervention and preventative treatment, offering new hope to thousands of sufferers and their families.

The team will utilise the new facilities in the university's new £7.5m science complex for the research.

The study will focus on the condition of the inherited disease at a cellular level.

Currently, cystinosis is treated with the active ingredient cysteamine however, this produces many unpleasant side effects.

The university team has already modified the drug to target cysteamine directly into the cells, like a 'magic bullet', aiming to improve its absorption into the body, reduce the amount needed to be taken and lower the adverse side effects. This research continues alongside the new project and is funded by the British charity, Cystinosis Foundation UK.