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CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

npr.org

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Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#181

Post by petre »

hoseja wrote: post #179
laburn wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to you what?

Probably that letting the slow-GMO survive in a natural environment for hundreds of years does wonders for ironing out the really bad bugs. I'm not anti-GMO but i've been more wary ever since I realized it will inevitably be used to make better citizens (and not by making them better humans).

It depends. There's a number of dog breeds with known genetical issues.

GE is a double edged sword just like nuclear energy. With great power comes great responsability.

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#182

Post by hoseja »

hhjinks wrote: post #46
calrueb wrote: post #19

The fact that we can apply these sort of therapies to an adult human who consists of millions upon millions of cells blows my mind. Having the ability to fix our "buggy" genetic code while we are alive is amazing.

You're off by a _couple_ orders of magnitude. There are trillions of cells in a human body.

10^6 * 10^6 = 10^12

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#183

Post by thejackgoode »

piyushpr134 wrote: post #166
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%, the mRNA vaccines fall into this future category too. Being able to use RNA to direct cells to do what we need is mind blowing.

A new world is beaconing upon us. Much like computers in 70s. We are in the real early phases of this technology and this would most probably make the world completely different from what it is now. Mind you, this is just the beginning. First we would have all kinds of diseases being cured using this, 1. It would change the whole medical diagnostics industry to correctly diagnose the pathogen, 2. Then destroy the pat…

Blowing the other horn, as an engineer I can imagine sorts of mistakes that can be made while editing DNA. We don’t fully understand life yet, but already cutting it in pieces, for a good purpose as it may be

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#184

Post by hoseja »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #31
xwdv wrote: post #9

What are the limits of gene editing?

We're constrained by the subset of physics that can be implemented by proteins. Plus, the genetic code can't be too big, or it won't fit, but I doubt we'll ever hit that limit (provided we don't go the software route and build a giant tower of massive abstractions that gets copied everywhere).

Proteins and things built by proteins. Teeth aren't very protein-y.

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#185

Post by rorykoehler »

jonplackett wrote: post #94
rorykoehler wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably already happening

Presumably it would be damn hard to detect if it was!

Usain Bolt would be my number 1 candidate. His meteoric rise lines up perfectly date wise with the emergence of this technology and it is well documented that athletes have been using themselves as guinea pigs for various pre-commercial drugs due to the ability to avoid positive tests.

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#186

Post by kaminar »

ausbah wrote: post #43

>Doctors infused billions of microscopic structures known as nanoparticles carrying genetic instructions for the CRISPR gene-editor into four patients in London and two in New Zealand. The nanoparticles were absorbed by their livers, where they unleashed armies of CRISPR gene-editors. The CRISPR editor honed in on the target gene in the liver and sliced it, disabling production of the destructive protein. this is one…

Wasn't there a recent HN article about another genetic splicer that's 1000x faster than CRISPR?

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#187

Post by hoseja »

petre wrote: post #181
hoseja wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably that letting the slow-GMO survive in a natural environment for hundreds of years does wonders for ironing out the really bad bugs. I'm not anti-GMO but i've been more wary ever since I realized it will inevitably be used to make better citizens (and not by making them better humans).

It depends. There's a number of dog breeds with known genetical issues. GE is a double edged sword just like nuclear energy. With great power comes great responsability.

Those are mostly innovations of the latest century or so, bred "scientifically", regulated by dog breed foundations and chasing dog-show metrics.

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#189

Post by null_object »

alex_sf wrote: post #170
puchatek wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If eating GMOs has you scared, this should be absolutely terrifying

All crops are GMO. The only difference is how fast they were modified.

> All crops are GMO. The only difference is how fast they were modified.

This is often said in defense of GMO, but surely cross-breeding and hybridization - a farmer or gardener attempting to combine the entire genetic entity of one plant with another one (which must therefore be naturally compatible), to increase the potential utility of the result - is totally different to inserting a single gene from a totally arbitrary source (which can therefore be a completely separate life-form)?

Re: CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough opens door to treating broad array of diseases

#190

Post by ben_w »

piyushpr134 wrote: post #167
civilized wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are populated areas whose livability is threatened by climate change. These are in very poor, low-latitude regions like Northern India. Sorry to burst your bubble, but PNWers will have the privilege of surviving and thriving with relatively minimal issue. As always, the consequences of the environmental sins of the global wealthy, like you and me and most HNers, will be borne by the global poor in other places.…

Northern India has always been this hot. I remember in 90s and early 2000s and god it was so freaking hot in May and June. There is this thing called loo in India (not the toilet) but this is warm westerly winds which start in the afternoons. It sucks your soul (and hydration and sodium out) and leaves you fully dehydrated. Many people die of that heat stroke caused by this loo. But then monsoon comes in July and it…

From the maps I’ve seen, Northern India itself is only a bit warmer than it used to be; However, if I understand correctly, the problem is the effect on the Himalayas and the subsequent consequences to the Northern India water supply: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/water/crisis-in-the-hima...
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