Gene-Swapping Technique Cures SCID
manofsan
03 Apr 2005
Here's an article on a very interesting new treatment method:
http://www.nature.co.../050328-13.html
Basically, it's about being able to swap an existing gene sequence for another. In this case, it was a defective sequence swapped for a correct sequence, to cure SCID. But they say they could swap a good sequence for a bad one too, to achieve a knockout effect.
It seems to hinge on the design of appropriate enzymes, but imagine if that difficult enzyme design step could be automated somehow, or if enzyme structures for all relevant sequence combinations could be developed. Then you might be able to compute some kind of enzyme treatment regime for all genetic illnesses afflicting a patient, based on inputting the patient's entire genome information.
A one-size-fits-all approach??
Comments anyone?
http://www.nature.co.../050328-13.html
Basically, it's about being able to swap an existing gene sequence for another. In this case, it was a defective sequence swapped for a correct sequence, to cure SCID. But they say they could swap a good sequence for a bad one too, to achieve a knockout effect.
It seems to hinge on the design of appropriate enzymes, but imagine if that difficult enzyme design step could be automated somehow, or if enzyme structures for all relevant sequence combinations could be developed. Then you might be able to compute some kind of enzyme treatment regime for all genetic illnesses afflicting a patient, based on inputting the patient's entire genome information.
A one-size-fits-all approach??
Comments anyone?
