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FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

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Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

#11

Post by GoldenRacer »

codedokode wrote: post #4
elektor wrote: post #3

Now comes the hard question, how will the US payer system afford it? "An August report from the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review found that the treatment and similar gene-editing therapies for sickle cell disease would be cost-effective if priced between $1.35 million and $2.05 million. In the U.S., patients with the condition and their insurers pay on average between $1.6 million and $1.7 million…

[flagged]

What genes do you think we should be testing for and which ones do you think are severe enough that you parents with those genes shouldn't have children?

Almost everyone has some sort of gene that isn't great. They might have a family history of Alzheimer's, maybe a family history or some sort of cancer, or bipolar disorder, or any other of 100 different serious illnesses. Humans would go extinct if we only allowed those with perfect genes to reproduce.

Oh, and with sickle cell, you're going to be in particularly hot water with suggestions like that given the fact it's mostly African Americans who have the gene.

Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

#12

Post by ortusdux »

Omni5cience wrote: post #7
codedokode wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

This feels like the plot to a dystopian science fiction story. You’re effectively arguing in favor of eugenics…

For the ignorant, Wikipedia also says that Sickle Cell disproportionately affects Africans and people of African descent (75% of cases are in Africa).

Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

#14

Post by trident5000 »

csdvrx wrote: post #8
trident5000 wrote: post #2

Pretty big news. I believe this is the first gene editing therapy approved by the FDA and theres a large backlog thats been in the works for many years. Id like to see the flood gates really open up for gene editing for diseases, preventative treatments, and even cosmetic.

> Id like to see the flood gates really open up for gene editing for diseases, preventative treatments, and even cosmetic. Me too, because it's fun to consider DNA as some code we can edit to get outcomes we want! However, some people are ethically opposed to that - but piggybacking on the preference people have for having children should be able to move the Overton window!

It really is inspiring. Yeah I take the opposite side, ethically speaking. I think its cruel to not allow people to fix their bodies in the ways they want and in many cases need. Im in the max body-editing camp. Also this should resolve race issues once and for all which is fun to think about.

Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

#16

Post by pkaye »

codedokode wrote: post #4
elektor wrote: post #3

Now comes the hard question, how will the US payer system afford it? "An August report from the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review found that the treatment and similar gene-editing therapies for sickle cell disease would be cost-effective if priced between $1.35 million and $2.05 million. In the U.S., patients with the condition and their insurers pay on average between $1.6 million and $1.7 million…

[flagged]

Newborns are already screened at birth for SCD in the US.

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/documents/factsheet_sc...

Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

#18

Post by dragonwriter »

codedokode wrote: post #4
elektor wrote: post #3

Now comes the hard question, how will the US payer system afford it? "An August report from the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review found that the treatment and similar gene-editing therapies for sickle cell disease would be cost-effective if priced between $1.35 million and $2.05 million. In the U.S., patients with the condition and their insurers pay on average between $1.6 million and $1.7 million…

[flagged]

> According to Wikipedia, sickle cell disease is a genetic disease meaning that it is caused by mistakes in DNA. If parents did DNA testing and were warned that they are carriers of invalid DNA and decided not to have children, maybe there would be no need to do costly research and expensive treatment.

The sickle cell allele is also a malaria resistance allele. Heterozygous = malaria resistance. Homozygous = sickle cell disease.

Eugenics through breeding control in general is quite problematic, but deliberately breeding out disease resistance just seems like a particularly bad idea even beyond the general problems with eugenics.

Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease

#19

Post by KyleSanderson »

Lyfgenia’s approval came with a black box warning about the possibility that patients who receive the therapy might later develop blood cancer and should be monitored for that risk. Two patients in trials of the drug died of blood cancers, and studies concluded that the cancers were caused by the chemotherapy conditioning regimen for the treatment, not Lyfgenia itself.
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