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CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

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Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#81

Post by dicroce »

FiatLuxDave wrote: post #69
Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

He also coincidentally happens to be the guy who wrote a dissertation on why beam-collision nuclear fusion reactors won't work as a viable path towards self-sustaining nuclear fusion: https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/11412 Since I was doing a startup making a beam-collision nuclear fusion reactor at the time, the name kind of rings a bell...

So, was he right?

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#82

Post by jtmcmc »

timdorr wrote: post #29
natch wrote: post #14

"animal models" is obviously a term of art but what does it mean in plain English?

It's any animal (mice, in this case) with a set of characteristics you keep constant between trials. It could be mice of the same age or weight or that have a specific gene or have the same diet.

There are specific 'model animals' that the scientific community uses however https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_model_organisms

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#83

Post by 6502nerdface »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #66
Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

Given billionaires running their own space programs it makes me wonder why there aren't more billionaires running biologic research companies. Between life extension and immunity to (or protection from) really pathological conditions it seems like their interests would be aligned with folks like this.

> billionaires running biologic research companies

D. E. Shaw Research is exactly this. Haven't heard of others, though.

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#84

Post by camus2 »

ShannonAlther wrote: post #10

It's awesome that this is possible. Right now HIV infections are basically a minor nuisance, provided you're taking the appropriate medication, but this bodes well for future treatment of viral infections.

> Right now HIV infections are basically a minor nuisance

I don't understand how anybody can say that. HIV treatment is extremely heavy and has potentially horrible side effects that must be masked with other drugs that have their share of horrible side effects. This + the fact that many people get only diagnosed when they are terminally ill due to the nature of the disease. I'm not even talking about the cost of the treatment.

Your comment is just horrible, whatever the intent was.

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#86

Post by softrock »

Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

If he's not getting funding perhaps his work doesn't hold up under scrutiny? I'm a geologist and biology is greek to me so I don't know what to make of it.

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#87

Post by jtmcmc »

ShannonAlther wrote: post #10

It's awesome that this is possible. Right now HIV infections are basically a minor nuisance, provided you're taking the appropriate medication, but this bodes well for future treatment of viral infections.

Of course that is a huge caveat and even then there is still significant degradation to the quality of your life.

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#88

Post by [deleted] »

dmix wrote: post #53
Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

This is the type of innovation we exchange for a sense of absolute security in having highly-vetted decade-long bio R&D and extensive backlogs at the FDA for approvals to sell products on the market. It's go big or go home because the regulatory risk/timeline is so extensive. Most of these things die quietly or never get started so we never really see the true costs of what it takes to push the pharma world forward.…

[deleted]

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#89

Post by jstelly »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #66
Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

Given billionaires running their own space programs it makes me wonder why there aren't more billionaires running biologic research companies. Between life extension and immunity to (or protection from) really pathological conditions it seems like their interests would be aligned with folks like this.

This is happening. Sergey Brin reportedly invested over $1B in Calico (biotech / life extension).

Re: CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

#90

Post by character0 »

reasonattlm wrote: post #13

It is worth noting that the real challenge in gene therapy at this time is not editing the genes, but in getting sufficient coverage of edited cells (and especially progenitors and stem cells) in an adult individual to achieve the therapeutic goal and make it last. (Most studies of genetic alterations in the broader sense have bypassed this challenge by working with animal lineages, or animals in which the editing ha…

Is the problem you are describing that CRISPR antiviral therapies aren't effective because you don't usually know that you've been infected until, well, after you've been infected?

The way I understand the problem is that the lag time can be rather long, and it's always long enough for the virus to get a good running start. Symptoms, after all, don't occur until things are well under way. So in the real world, the two opportunities for antiviral therapies are (1) something that you can take long before you're even exposed, and that lasts for a long time (like a vaccine) or (2) something that you can take after you've already realized that you're sick (like an antiviral drug).

It seems like the DRACO proteins fall in between these two unless something has changed since the last time I read about this in, I believe, 2012.

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