The global rise in antibiotic resistance is making bacterial infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. Once considered miracle drugs, antibiotics are now losing their effectiveness against ever-evolving bacteria. One company is aiming to treat infections with a different strategy: arming tiny …
Read More »Gene-Edited Salad Greens Are Coming to US Stores This Fall
Last year, startup Pairwise started selling the first food in the US made with Crispr technology: a new type of mustard greens with an adjusted flavor. But chances are, most consumers never got to sample them. The company introduced the greens to the food service industry—select restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, retirement …
Read More »A Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Was Just Transplanted Into a Person for the First Time
In a world first, surgeons in Boston have transplanted a genetically altered pig kidney into a 62-year-old man. The procedure is a step toward providing more readily available organs to patients who are in desperate need of a transplant. The four-hour surgery was carried out on March 16 at Massachusetts …
Read More »Gene Editing Needs to Be for Everyone
At the end of 2023, we witnessed an important moment in the history of medicine: For the first time, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a therapy that uses Crispr gene editing. This new therapy was developed by Crispr Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals to treat sickle cell disease, an …
Read More »The Age of Crispr Medicine Is Here
Jimi Olaghere used to end up in the emergency room so often that the hospital reserved a bed for him. Sickle cell disease dominated his life. A genetic defect he was born with meant that instead of having flexible, round red blood cells like most people do, his were sticky …
Read More »Jennifer Doudna Believes Crispr Is for Everyone
It’s been a monumental year for Crispr, the molecular tool scientists use to edit genetic material. This November, the United Kingdom authorized the first medical treatment using Crispr gene editing, giving people with sickle cell disease new opportunities to receive a one-time therapy to prevent episodes of terrible pain. This …
Read More »The First Crispr Medicine Just Got Approved
The first medical treatment that uses Crispr gene editing was authorized Thursday by the United Kingdom. The one-time therapy, which will be sold under the brand name Casgevy, is for patients with sickle cell disease and a related blood disorder called beta thalassemia, both of which are inherited. The UK …
Read More »A Single Infusion of a Gene-Editing Treatment Lowered High Cholesterol
In a small initial test in people, researchers have shown that a single infusion of a novel gene-editing treatment can reduce cholesterol, the fatty substance that clogs and hardens arteries over time. The experiment was carried out in 10 participants with an inherited condition that causes extremely high LDL, or …
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