Lifeboat Foundation

Random outbreak at research center points to tilapia variants that can resist the deadly virus.

An international team of researchers that pooled genetic samples from developmentally disabled patients from around the world has identified dozens of new mutations in a single gene that appears to be critical for brain development.

“This is important because there are a handful of genes that are recognized as ‘hot spots’ for mutations causing neurodevelopmental disorders,” said lead author Debra Silver, an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the Duke School of Medicine. “This gene, DDX3X, is going to be added to that list now.”

An analysis led by the Elliott Sherr lab at the University of California-San Francisco found that half of the DDX3X mutations in the 107 children studied caused a loss of function that made the gene stop working altogether, but the other half caused changes predicted to disrupt the function of the gene.

This month, K.L. became one of the first patients to receive a new experimental gene therapy for children with a severe form of inherited vision loss. The treatment, currently not yet named, targets young men who are susceptible to a particularly vicious genetic disorder that gradually destroys the light-sensing portion of their eyes.

Within a month following a single injection, “my vision was beginning to return in the treated eye. The sharpness and depth of colors I was slowly beginning to see were so clear and attractive,” said K.L.

The trial, a first-in-human case for X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), was led by Dr. Robert MacLaren at the University of Oxford but spanned multiple centers including the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, which previously championed Luxterna, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a type of inherited blindness. The results are some of the first targeting a particularly difficult gene prone to mutation in humans. Amazingly, despite some inflammation in early stages, the therapy provided massive improvements in eyesight as early as two weeks following treatment.

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Michigan-native doctor was honored in his hometown for making national headlines after helping a paralyzed man walk again.

By allowing video calls

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) report new data that support the hypothesis that remdesivir, a drug with broad antiviral activity, may be a promising treatment against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

In the team’s experiments, remdesivir reduced the severity of disease, virus replication, and damage to the lungs when administered to infected monkeys. The authors suggest that it be considered for implementation in clinical trials and that it may also have utility for other, related coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 (previously known as 2019-nCoV).

The experimental antiviral remdesivir successfully prevented disease in rhesus macaques infected with MERS-CoV. Remdesivir prevented disease when administered before infection and improved the condition of macaques when given after the animals already were infected.

Is it so outlandish to believe that countries in the future might resort to military force to prevent other countries from altering the shared genetic code of humanity? Many countries have been invaded for far less.

The genetics revolution that will transform our health care, the way we make babies, the nature of the babies we make, and ultimately our evolutionary trajectory as a species has already begun. Just like parents in many places will need to make tough choices about whether, if at all, to genetically engineer their children, states will be forced to make monumental collective decisions on these issues with potentially fateful consequences.

Continue reading “The designer baby debate could start a war” »

The synchronized footage, published online in January, was assembled by a mostly anonymous online group of sleuths called Osint HK, which has been keeping tabs on protesters and journalists’ often-violent encounters with police during the more than eight months of Hong Kong’s near-daily anti-government, pro-democracy protests. Osint HK has spent hours each day scouring social networks for videos and other media to document police misconduct across Hong Kong.

The protests are still happening, but they’ve slowed due to fears over the coronavirus, which has been spreading from China across the globe. So Osint HK more recently has begun focusing its efforts on educating the public about the virus.

“People are confused, and they don’t know where to turn,” says Trey Menefee, the founder and public face of Osint HK. “We are trying to be a trusted source of information, cutting through the fog to find out what did or didn’t happen.”

The gene-editing tool CRISPR has been used for the first time inside the body of an adult, in an attempt to cure a form of blindness.

The treatment: According to the Associated Press, doctors dripped just a few drops of a gene-editing mixture beneath the retina of a patient in Oregon who suffers from Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited disease that leads to progressive vision loss.

Cells that take up the mixture can have their DNA permanently corrected, potentially restoring a degree of vision.