In what may seem as a very bold attempt to tackle incurable diseases, scientists for the very first time, have successfully changed a person’s DNA directly inside a living tissue to cure a disease. Reportedly, the medics in California have administered an experimental intravenous treatment, which instructs the human body to change the DNA. The test result will be confirmed in a time span of three months and is anticipated to give a major boost to the fledgling field of healthcare and medical devices.
Reports claim that the experiment was carried out on a 44-year-old patient, Brain Madeux, through an IV process, where the patient received billions of a corrective gene and a genetic tool to cut off his faulty sequence in the DNA. Madeux was suffering from a metabolic disease called the Hunter syndrome.
For the record, Hunter syndrome, also known as Mucopolysaccharidoses II, is a genetically inherited disease and is usually caused because of a specific defect within the gene. The treatment is yet to show results; however, analysts predict it to be a major breakthrough in the overall gene editing market.
Sources reveal that scientists have already tried and tested this experimental therapy on mice, which has proved to be enormously successful. Moreover, there are potential chances that the gene editing therapy would be an equal success among humans, as scientists have already edited & altered human genes in the lab. Assessing the potential medical benefits that this technology would bring to gene editing industry, scientists are apparently leaving no stone unturned as far as further exploration of this therapy is concerned.
On the flip side, despite having a tangible impact on the global gene editing market, these experimental methods can only be used for a few types of diseases. Experts speculate that gene alteration may not give 100% results and sometimes can possibly cause a new problem like cancer. However, once the effectiveness and safety of this treatment is established, scientists believe this new gene editing therapy to revolutionize the overall healthcare and medical devices industry.
