Chinese scientists used CRISPR gene therapy to correct a mutation that causes Marfan syndrome, an incurable connective tissue disorder that affects about 1 in 5,000 people. A single letter mistake in the gene for FBN1, which codes for the fibrillin protein, can cause a ripple effect of problems—from loose joints to weak vision to life-threatening …
CRISPR gene editing has stopped the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in dogs, according to a study by UT Southwestern that provides a strong indication that a lifesaving treatment may be in the pipeline. unprecedented improvement in the muscle fibers of dogs with DMD – the most common fatal genetic disease in children, caused …
Roving cancer tumor cells have been genetically engineered to secrete a protein that triggers a death switch in resident tumor cells they encounter. The cancer-fighting cancer cells also have a built-in suicide switch — so the weaponized cells self-destruct before they can start tumors of their own. Previous research has used circulating tumor cells to …
Canadian research (Alberta) shows that the use of bridged nucleic acids to guide Cas9 can improve its specificity by over 10,000 times in certain instances — a dramatic improvement. Basil Hubbard, Canada Research Chair in Molecular Therapeutics and an assistant professor in the U of A’s Department of Pharmacology, and his team have filed a …
Genetically modification of humans has been been approved for the first time in Europe. Swiss-based biotech company Crispr Therapeutics hope to find a way of curing blood disease beta thalassaemia. China has approved similar gene therapy trials. A trial into treating cancer patients is under way in the USA. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist …
University of California, Berkeley scientists have for the first time used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to disable a defective gene that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in mice, extending their lifespan by 25 percent. The therapy delayed the onset of the muscle wasting that characterizes the disease, which results in progressive weakness and …
Tristan Roberts is injecting himself with a previously an untested, experimental gene therapy. Several individuals have publicly attempted to augment themselves with genes that will inhibit cell death or boost muscle growth, and self-experimentation is also happening in private. Brian Hanley (picture above) , a microbiologist who gave himself a gene therapy designed to increase …
Josiah Zayner is CEO of the biohacking-promoting startup The Odin. He has injected himself with performance enhancing gene therapy to grow larger muscles. He is selling a $20 myostatin inhibitor plasmid. This must be combined with a $300 gRNA in a plasmid that also expresses Cas9 which an be ordered online. Odin sells other gene …
In 2014, Nextbigfuture predicted Tiger Moms as being the driver of early adoption of genetic intelligence enhancement and the lifting of the One child policy in China. China’s One child policy was being lifted just as embryo selection based upon intelligence for invitro fertilized (IVF) babies becomes possible and we are on the cusp of …
On October 18, 2017, DuPont Pioneer and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard reached an agreement to jointly provide non-exclusive licenses to foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property under their respective control for use in commercial agricultural research and product development. All entities wanting to apply the technology for agricultural applications are free to use a …
New Broad Institute ‘REPAIR’ system edits RNA, rather than DNA; has potential to treat diseases without permanently affecting the genome. The Broad Institute and MIT scientists who first harnessed CRISPR for mammalian genome editing have engineered a new molecular system for efficiently editing RNA in human cells. RNA editing, which can alter gene products without …