
CRISPR Saves a Baby’s Life
Biotechnology is like Star Wars’, “Force”: It has a dark side and a light side. CRISPR, the gene-editing technique that can alter any cell and life-form on the planet, exemplifies the point. It can be deployed to alter a bird flu virus to kill multitudes. It can be used for eugenics manipulations. And, in theory, it can save the lives of people afflicted with genetic diseases. That seems to have just happened. Baby KJ’s life was apparently saved or extended — at least for now — using the technique to treat a genetically caused liver condition. From the Stat story: For the first time, scientists say they have reached into the genome of a severely ill child and rewritten the Read More ›