Language nit: You can't "restore" hearing to those who never had it.
That's not just a nit. The idea that these are people who are "broken" and need to be "fixed" is something a lot of Deaf people are very opposed to.
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Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
191–200 of 231 posts
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#192All of us have to get real and demand immediate speed-up of LLMs, Gene Therapy, etc. Absolutely nothing else matters.
Fully agree. Both have the potential to solve whole groups of problems. Gene therapy especially should be species goal as something to get us to the next stage of evolution.
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's try to fix the world's vast number of actual, boring health problems before trying to add the equivalent of spoilers and chrome-plated hubcaps to perfectly healthy human bodies.
Most of those problems in the US are caused by lifestyle, and can't really be changed without behavioral modification. And a lot of our health issues are a matter of poor access to healthcare.
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Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#194Genetic issues are more prevalent in communities that practice inbreeding. Eliminating inbreeding seems to be an easier fix than genetic therapy.
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
Synthetic biology CAD software does exist, and works better than most people would expect, but of course are not at the level you are imagining yet.
Could you provide some resources/links please?
It's hard to summarize because there are about a dozen different categories of things that could reasonably considered "biological CAD" and often would all be used together in a single synthetic biology project.
For example: Retrobiosynthesis simulates biochemistry backwards, to find the steps necessary for a biological system to build something, usually a small molecule. Galaxy-SynBioCAD / Retropath would be one example: https://jfaulon.com/galaxy-synbiocad-portal/
Constraint based metabolic modeling models cellular metabolism, and lets you simulate adding and removing chemical reactions to a cell, and predict the outcomes. COBRApy would be one example software tool: https://opencobra.github.io/cobrapy/
Design editors for DNA plasmids, like the Teselagen design editor let you construct DNA sequences representing new biological capabilities to be added to an engineered cell, which can then be synthesized or constructed. Teselagen design module: https://teselagen.com/design-module/
Generative AI systems can 'hallucinate' functional proteins and DNA sequences that meet a design specification for function and/or shape. For example, GenerateBio's Chroma model can literally take a 3D file designed in a standard CAD program, and then automatically come up with an amino acid sequence that will fold into a protein with that exact 3D shape- and it actually works. https://github.com/generatebio/chroma
An emerging field is coupling all of these types of tools with predictive models to enable 'inverse design' where you create a spec of what you want, such as a material with some desired properties, and it will automatically suggest biological routes to it.
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's try to fix the world's vast number of actual, boring health problems before trying to add the equivalent of spoilers and chrome-plated hubcaps to perfectly healthy human bodies.
Sex changes/gender transitions is an actual boring health problem. The inability to assume the correct gender for a trans person often leads to social rejection, violence, poverty, prostitution, murder, and suicide.
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Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
A futurist I knew of long ago pointed out that the Moon’s gravity is light enough that the human skeleton could achieve sufficient lift without sustaining damage in the process. True, you might have to be a junior Olympian to do it, but it’s possible. On earth your pectorals would tear off of your sternum long before you achieved takeoff.
I thought the same thing. The lack of Moon atmosphere is a real problem though.
Don’t bump into the top of the dome. You’ll get charged for disinfecting the equipment.
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It is important to consider the sociocultural context, particularly in regards to the deaf community, which has its own unique language and culture Frankly, I disagree. I think a deaf person should be entitled to decline a low-risk treatment that would cure or mitigate their own deafness -- but to make that decision for a child is altogether different. Deliberately restricting a human being's sense experience throug…
This presupposes an awful lot. If it were truly a risk free magic wand you could wave, then I could see your point. But none of the current options are risk free, and I doubt this one will be. They all have risks, side effects, and probably the chance of failure. And then the question is how low of a risk is acceptable to restore a child's hearing. These are people who would live an otherwise healthy and normal life,…
It's often not about the risk, though. It's sadly common for uppercase-D "Deaf culture" people to decline these kinds of treatments for their kids because they want their kids to be deaf too. That's absolutely child abuse.
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#199Language nit: You can't "restore" hearing to those who never had it.
That's not just a nit. The idea that these are people who are "broken" and need to be "fixed" is something a lot of Deaf people are very opposed to.
> The idea that these are people who are "broken" and need to be "fixed" is something a lot of Deaf people are very opposed to.
Are they maybe "opposed" to been seen like that because there was no hope for any solutions besides just being OK with it?
In the future when it's more accessible and cheaper, shouldn't being born without hearing be considered a "fault" of sorts, as you can now introduce this sense to them, like most others being born with hearing at birth?
Re: Gene therapy restores hearing to children with inherited deafness
#200> Two of the children even gained an ability to appreciate music. Interesting: Does this mean that the other 3 children are still kind of indifferent to Music and presumably other kinds of sounds?
There's a certain age beyond which you cannot learn proper speech. There's a certain age beyond which you cannot learn absolute pitch. It wouldn't be surprising if there was a certain age beyond which you cannot learn to understand music.
> There's a certain age beyond which you cannot learn absolute pitch
I can understand things like that get harder and harder as you become adult. That it's absolutely not possible beyond a certain age I think is just a commonly held belief that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
What is this age limit where you've never seen anyone be able to gain that skill? I'm sure there are counter-examples.