CRISPR, a new technique for editing DNA, is being tested in clinical trials for the first time in the U.S., NPR reported on Tuesday.
After a few studies based in China on using the gene-editing technology to treat disease, two American cancer patients are being treated with CRISPR for their cancer. The patients, being treated as part of a study at the University of Pennsylvania, had both "relapsed after undergoing standard treatment." One patient was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer that affects plasma cells in the blood; the other was diagnosed with sarcoma, a tumor that affects connective tissue in the body.
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Many scientists are hopeful that this will mark a new era in disease treatment: "2019 is the year when the training wheels come off," and we will better understand "what CRISPR can really do for the world," said Fyodor Urnov, a gene-editing scientist. Read more about CRISPR at NPR.
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