One of the inventors of gene editing says scientists should proceed cautiously before testing it in people. <\/p>\n
Feng Zhang <\/p>\n
Citing the risk of deadly mistakes, a leading researcher speaking at MIT Technology ReviewsEmTech conferenceon Tuesday said the risks of gene editing need to be better understood before the technology can be used in medical studies. <\/p>\n
Feng Zhang, a researcher at MIT, helped invent a powerful new way to alter DNA that he compared in his talk to a search-and-replace function for the genome. <\/p>\n
Several startups have already sprung up to turn the technology into new kinds of gene-therapy drugs, including CRISPR Therapeutics and Editas Medicine, a biotechnology company that Zhang cofounded last year with venture capitalists who invested $43 million. <\/p>\n
These companies hope to correct diseases, like cystic fibrosis, caused by faulty DNA. In other cases, Zhang said, changing a persons DNA could provide a protective effectfor instance, conferring immunity to HIV. <\/p>\n
The concept is very powerful, but to make any correction in the body is very challenging, he said. <\/p>\n
Looming over researchers is the 1999 death of Jesse Gelsinger, a volunteer in an early gene therapy study in Pennsylvania. That failure dealt a huge setback to genetic drugs. Later it was shown that such treatments, even when they work, could sometimes cause cancer by making unwanted changes to a persons genome. <\/p>\n
One of the early lessons from gene therapy is to go slowly, said Zhang. The lesson is that we need to understand a system carefully before putting it into a person. <\/p>\n
Gradually, however, gene therapy has staged a comeback. In 2012, a treatment called Glybera was the first to be approved in Europe. Its not yet for sale in the U.S., but numerous gene treatments are being tested in patients. <\/p>\n
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\nEmTech: Risks of Gene-Editing Drugs Need Study, Pioneer Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"