Accepting the risk in hopes of a cure CLICK FOR MORE: "In the dry language of clinical trial records, they are known as Patient 2 and Patient 12.

But the quest by Vista chiropractor Brad Arens and San Diego real estate broker David Kruest to find some relief from Parkinson's disease, a chronic, degenerative central nervous system disorder that can leave sufferers with little or no mobility, is anything but prosaic.

It's a tale of a cutting-edge experimental therapy in a field fraught with medical disasters. Of a profit-motivated biotechnology company that managed to tap into a nonprofit cash stream with Hollywood cachet. And of desperate patients who suddenly find themselves pioneers, helping to push forward the scientific frontier.

Along the way, Arens and Kruest got a rare glimpse of how risky science moves forward despite the brutal financial climate for early-stage drug companies, and how self-interest and altruism can sometimes find common ground in the search for medical cures.

For Kruest, who this year became the last of 12 patients to undergo brain surgery to implant an experimental gene therapy developed by San Diego's Ceregene, the quest began 13 years ago while driving his car to work..."