JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
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About that Social Security thingy and UBI's.....
EXCLUSIVE: First human embryos edited in U.S., using CRISPR
George Church indicates reversal of aging will be a reality within ten years | NextBigFuture.com
Cellular Reprogramming Rejuvenates Old Mice and Boosts Lifespans 30%
EXCLUSIVE: First human embryos edited in U.S., using CRISPR
The first known attempt at creating genetically modified human embryos in the United States has been carried out by a team of researchers in Portland, Oregon, MIT Technology Review has learned.
The effort, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University, involved changing the DNA of a large number of one-cell embryos with the gene-editing technique CRISPR, according to people familiar with the scientific results.
Until now, American scientists have watched with a combination of awe, envy, and some alarm as scientists elsewhere were first to explore the controversial practice. To date, three previous reports of editing human embryos were all published by scientists in China.
Now Mitalipov is believed to have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating that it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases.
The effort, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University, involved changing the DNA of a large number of one-cell embryos with the gene-editing technique CRISPR, according to people familiar with the scientific results.
Until now, American scientists have watched with a combination of awe, envy, and some alarm as scientists elsewhere were first to explore the controversial practice. To date, three previous reports of editing human embryos were all published by scientists in China.
Now Mitalipov is believed to have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating that it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases.
George Church indicates reversal of aging will be a reality within ten years | NextBigFuture.com
“I [Church] don’t think it is about stalling or curing, its about reversing. Curing gives you the impression of immortality. Stalling gives you the impression that you’ll be 85 forever, which is not great.”
Fahy: Using your most favorable pathway for intervention, how long will it take before a human trial might be possible?
Church: I think it can happen very quickly. It may take years to get full approval, but it could take as little as a year to get approval for phase one trials. Trials of GDF11, myostatin, and others are already underway in animals, as are a large number of CRISPR trials. I think we’ll be seeing the first human trials in a year or two.
Fahy: Can you say what those trials might be?
Church: I helped start a company called Editas that is aimed at CRISPR-based genome editing therapies in general. Some of those will be aimed at rare childhood diseases and others hopefully will be aimed at diseases of aging. We also have a company focused specifically on aging reversal that will be testing these therapies in animal and human models.
Fahy: Using your most favorable pathway for intervention, how long will it take before a human trial might be possible?
Church: I think it can happen very quickly. It may take years to get full approval, but it could take as little as a year to get approval for phase one trials. Trials of GDF11, myostatin, and others are already underway in animals, as are a large number of CRISPR trials. I think we’ll be seeing the first human trials in a year or two.
Fahy: Can you say what those trials might be?
Church: I helped start a company called Editas that is aimed at CRISPR-based genome editing therapies in general. Some of those will be aimed at rare childhood diseases and others hopefully will be aimed at diseases of aging. We also have a company focused specifically on aging reversal that will be testing these therapies in animal and human models.
Cellular Reprogramming Rejuvenates Old Mice and Boosts Lifespans 30%
In 2006, Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka showed that it was possible to convert adult cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells by exposing them to four specific transcription factors (proteins that regulate gene expression). He won a Nobel prize for the discovery in 2012 and the factors are now named after him.
Other researchers have since shown that reprogramming adult cells into stem cells appears to rejuvenate them. But most studies have only achieved this in the petri dish, and attempts to induce pluripotency in animals have resulted in them developing tumors.
Normally the reprogramming process requires the cells to be exposed to the Yamanaka factors for weeks at a time. But in a paper published in the journal Cell last week, the Salk researchers describe how they discovered that reducing the exposure time resulted in the reversal of many of the hallmarks of aging without fully reprogramming the cells.
Other researchers have since shown that reprogramming adult cells into stem cells appears to rejuvenate them. But most studies have only achieved this in the petri dish, and attempts to induce pluripotency in animals have resulted in them developing tumors.
Normally the reprogramming process requires the cells to be exposed to the Yamanaka factors for weeks at a time. But in a paper published in the journal Cell last week, the Salk researchers describe how they discovered that reducing the exposure time resulted in the reversal of many of the hallmarks of aging without fully reprogramming the cells.
