StemCell Therapy

When the French Emmanuelle Charpentier and the American Jennifer Doudna, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020, the award fell short compared to the importance of their contribution to the gene editing. These girls, yeah they discovered the black thread with their scissors CRISPR to alter and repair DNA, contributing to the health of living beings. A revolutionary technique, thanks to which mice with damage to the spinal cord They have walked again, hoping that one day it could be applied to humans.

Although it seems inspired by the Lucy movie, gene editing also known as biohacking, it is nothing other than correct and repair the cells of the DNA Or, insert the missing cells, which cause genetic diseases as simple as myopia to the diabetes. In addition, they have been shown to have an important benefit in other types of patients such as HIV. Being a new miracle in medicine.

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In a simple explanation, one of the theories of CRISPR, is that genetic diseases are due to damage or absence in the genomic sequence. What the experts do is all engineering work, repairing or inserting the genetic sequence. For example, some genetic diseases such as sclerosis, diabetes or muscular dystrophy are believed to be due toin the absence or damage de a gene X, while biohackers take care of repair it. It is truly fascinating.

However, gene editing therapies in humans are illegal in many countries, in addition to being a potentially controversial issue because it questions the objective of prolonging life and practically playing god. In fact, a group of UNESCO scientists requested the prohibition of any edition of the human germ line since they could lead to actions of baby design .

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However, a study of the Ruhr University, in Germany, revives the debate on the future of genetic medicine, by getting a group of hamsters with spinal cord damage to walk again dfter two to three weeks of receiving a new gene therapy, while there is a huge chance that this new treatment will have the same success in humans.

The scientists worked with mice with spinal damage and consequently lost all mobility on both legs. They first began by stimulating the nervous system to identify the damaged gene, after a series of studies, they developed the gene hyperinterleukin-6genetically modified and injected it into the sensory motor cortex and did what they could at the time: wait.

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Being an unpublished study, the consequences could have been diverse, but once the hyper-interleukin-6, achieved adapt to the genetic sequence, for the production of the protein within the cells. Lto protein, or hyperinterleukin-6 (hIL-6), acts assuming a key characteristic Disabling spinal cord injuries, which is damage to nerve fibers known as axons. What is special about our study is that the protein is not only used to stimulate nerve cellss that produce it themselves, but also takes it further (through the brain) , Gave DailyMail, Dr. Dietmar Fischer, who led the study.

Nature

There is no miracle, everything is thanks to science and like all treatment, genetic editing would take time to show the first results. But, after a couple of weeks, the CRISPR worked its magic. All mice managed to recobrar movement body and not only that, Little time they all walked again.

Now the scientists will have to wait to analyze if the mice do not suffer from serious side effects, if so, they will take the next step to study if this gene-editing therapy can be applied in humans, which could save more than five million people in the world who suffer from partial or total paralysis.

It sounds spectacular, we know. But please dont try to play scientist. Gene editing may have grave consequences in humans, if it is practiced in a way experimental. While modified genes are not found in nature, they are designed specifically for genetic engineers with all the knowledge and within a laboratory. Better, if you are interested in the subject and you would like to enter the world of CRISPR, we recommend the Netflix documentary entitled Unnatural Selection

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The story of the hamster that walked again thanks to genetic editing - Explica

This entry was posted on January 29, 2021 at 2:53 am and is filed under Genetic medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |