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Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

bbc.com

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Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#11

Post by cm2012 »

deepnotderp wrote: post #10
Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this, but not a popular opinion. Hence the down votes you are getting. Korea and China don't have the same memetic immune response to such ideas, injecting one's children with growth hormone in hope of increasing future job prospects, for example, is extremely common in Korea. I suspect embryo selection and generic engineering for increased IQ will take off in East Asia first. Then we will be forced to a…

A better way to increase iq would be to raise the socioeconomic level...

If genetic boosting is actually possible and not fringe bullshit, it's way faster than socioeconomic fixes, which seem to take 10 years per 3 iq points.

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#12

Post by Moshe_Silnorin »

deepnotderp wrote: post #10
Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this, but not a popular opinion. Hence the down votes you are getting. Korea and China don't have the same memetic immune response to such ideas, injecting one's children with growth hormone in hope of increasing future job prospects, for example, is extremely common in Korea. I suspect embryo selection and generic engineering for increased IQ will take off in East Asia first. Then we will be forced to a…

A better way to increase iq would be to raise the socioeconomic level...

Nope. Genetic engineering works far, far better. We've already plucked the low hanging fruit of adequate nutrition, early education, salt iodization, and lead reduction. Anyway, those reduce mental retardation, they don't improve the baseline too much. And the Flynn effect looks to be slowing or reversing. 50 IQ points is huge. It's the difference between a burger flipper and a physics professor. The change to the world when the average 5th grader is mastering chromodynamics is hard to even contemplate.

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#13

Post by candiodari »

helloworld wrote: post #5
maxerickson wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unlikely. The virus used to modify the bone marrow cells would have to stay active after the transplant and infect the rest of his body (specifically his testicles).

It sounds like this research involves somatic gene transfer, in which the change to the genome is not passed on to children: Gene transfer can be targeted to somatic (body) or germ (egg and sperm) cells. In somatic gene transfer the recipient's genome is changed, but the change is not passed on to the next generation. In germline gene transfer, the parents' egg and sperm cells are changed with the goal of passing on…

Isn't that dangerous ? This will allow him to have a normal life, which includes kids, which will need this (potentially very expensive) treatment as well.

Wouldn't you, in order to not destroy the gene pool, want to restrict gene changes to both of those ? Either that or sterilize the patient to prevent transmission of lethal genes ? This treatment is VERY unfair to any children this guy fathers.

Of course I do get that the method used here goes not really support germ transfer (that requires the gene change to happen in vitro)

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#14

Post by JshWright »

candiodari wrote: post #13
helloworld wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like this research involves somatic gene transfer, in which the change to the genome is not passed on to children: Gene transfer can be targeted to somatic (body) or germ (egg and sperm) cells. In somatic gene transfer the recipient's genome is changed, but the change is not passed on to the next generation. In germline gene transfer, the parents' egg and sperm cells are changed with the goal of passing on…

Isn't that dangerous ? This will allow him to have a normal life, which includes kids, which will need this (potentially very expensive) treatment as well. Wouldn't you, in order to not destroy the gene pool, want to restrict gene changes to both of those ? Either that or sterilize the patient to prevent transmission of lethal genes ? This treatment is VERY unfair to any children this guy fathers. Of course I do get…

This is just a better treatment for sickle cell. Should sterilization be a requirement for any sickle cell treatment?

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#16

Post by josephagoss »

Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #12
deepnotderp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better way to increase iq would be to raise the socioeconomic level...

Nope. Genetic engineering works far, far better. We've already plucked the low hanging fruit of adequate nutrition, early education, salt iodization, and lead reduction. Anyway, those reduce mental retardation, they don't improve the baseline too much. And the Flynn effect looks to be slowing or reversing. 50 IQ points is huge. It's the difference between a burger flipper and a physics professor. The change to the wo…

Is there any foreseeable way to apply gene editing like this to adults? Could existing adults (us) in the future make use of this type of IQ increase?

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#17

Post by apathy »

aptidude187 wrote: post #15

Total noob here, is this type of treatment going in the direction of something like in the movie gattaca? Would gene editing also help fully grown adults?

If they have an identifiable deficiency, sure. Sickle cell is a stem cell (erythroblast more precisely) disorder, so fixing the stem cells fixes the disease. If you already have the tissues you want to change, it'll be harder.

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#18

Post by apathy »

maxerickson wrote: post #3
criddell wrote: post #2

Will this change potentially be transmitted to his children?

It's unlikely. The virus used to modify the bone marrow cells would have to stay active after the transplant and infect the rest of his body (specifically his testicles).

This. It would need to affect F2. It won't.

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#19

Post by apathy »

maxerickson wrote: post #3
criddell wrote: post #2

Will this change potentially be transmitted to his children?

It's unlikely. The virus used to modify the bone marrow cells would have to stay active after the transplant and infect the rest of his body (specifically his testicles).

This. It would need to affect F2. It won't.

Re: Teenager's sickle cell reversed using a treatment to change his DNA

#20

Post by Moshe_Silnorin »

josephagoss wrote: post #16
Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. Genetic engineering works far, far better. We've already plucked the low hanging fruit of adequate nutrition, early education, salt iodization, and lead reduction. Anyway, those reduce mental retardation, they don't improve the baseline too much. And the Flynn effect looks to be slowing or reversing. 50 IQ points is huge. It's the difference between a burger flipper and a physics professor. The change to the wo…

Is there any foreseeable way to apply gene editing like this to adults? Could existing adults (us) in the future make use of this type of IQ increase?

Not impossible but much, much, much more plausible with embryos. Modifying billions of neurons is a very, very tall order, and would likely be much less effective after the brain is grown. Embryo selection and modification are almost doable now, we just don't know which alleles to select for or edit in. A gift you can give your children but one you are unlikely to be able to get for yourself.
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