Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. News

Chinese scientists will be the first to use CRISPR gene editing in human patients

Kelly Hodgkins
By

china crispr human cancer trial gene editing ala cas9
Chinese scientists are preparing to set a world’s first by treating lung cancer patients with immune cells modified using the CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing technique. The team of clinical researchers hopes the modified immune cells will attack the cancer cells, offering a treatment option in cases where other conventional treatments have failed. “This technique is of great promise in bringing benefits to patients, especially the cancer patients whom we treat every day,” said lead oncologist Lu You from Sichuan University’s West China Hospital in an article published recently in Nature.

Lu and his team plan to extract T-cells from cancer patients and modify them using the CRISPR–Cas9 technique. The technology will knock out the PD-1 gene, which sits on the surface of the T-Cell and prevents the cell from attacking healthy cells that have the companion PD-L1 protein. Many cancer cells also express this standard PD-L1 marker as a defensive mechanism to prevent the body’s T-cells from attacking them. By disabling this PD-1 gene and removing the PD-1 protein, the modified T-cell will be free to destroy the cancer cells.

These modified, cancer-killing T-cells will be multiplied in the lab and then injected into a patient’s bloodstream where they will then make their way through the body to the cancer cells. The first phase of this human trial is designed to test whether this approach is safe to use in humans. One primary concern is the overstimulation of the immune system due to these newly introduced modified T-cells, which could attack healthy cells in other body systems. The team plans to start with a small dose of the modified T-cells and then gradually increase the dosage in a single test patient. The treatment will be closely monitored by the researchers to ensure the treatment is working to remove the cancer cells and not harming the body’s healthy cells in the process.

Related

Scientists in the United States are planning similar human clinical trials, but they are not expected to receive full approval for the technique until the end of 2016. A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia already received approval from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), but are still waiting for the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a university review board before they begin their trials.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Withings Body Scan scales go far beyond just showing your weight
Withings Body Scan scales.

Withings' new Body Scan smart scales go way beyond just measuring your weight, and instead bring monitoring technology you may have only seen at the gym or the doctor’s office into the comfort of your home. Announced during CES 2022, the Body Scan adds body composition data, heart rate and Electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements, nerve response, and vascular age calculations to the usual information given by a smart scale, saying it will, “turn the morning weigh-on into a sophisticated home health check.”

The Body Scan has a tempered glass platform with 14 electrodes hidden inside, plus a built-in 3.2-inch color LCD screen to show relevant data and an extendable handle with a further four electrodes in it. These are used for the ECG and to complete the body composition measurement. Using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, the Body Scan will assess body fat, visceral fat, bone and muscle mass, and water percentage to provide readings for individual body parts. Over the long-term, this helps understand high-risk areas in your body, along with sports-related data including muscle imbalance.

Read more
Oral-B adds new smart toothbrushes to product lineup, including iO10
Oral B IO5

It’s easy to agree no one likes going to the dentist, right? After all, between the scraping, whining drills, and all that grinding, it’s rarely a relaxing experience. Even so, dentists have been telling us all for years that those visits will be less stressful if we take better care of our teeth, and today’s smart toothbrushes and gadgets aim to make it easier than ever. Oral B is one of the biggest names in toothbrushing technology, and as part of CES 2022 it announced new brushes and a new gadget that’s akin to having a dentist pop a connected periscope into your mouth.

Oral B launched the new Oral B iO10, as well as two more wallet-friendly brushes: The iO4 and iO5.

Read more
OxeFit XS1 tracks your workout form and suggests real-time improvements
OxeFit XS1 smart home gym, front view

We’re all familiar with the concept of at-home workouts: Whether your memory goes back to Jane Fonda, or you’re more the type to follow along to Demi Bagby on TikTok, the idea of a private, but just-for-you workout is an enticing way to embrace fitness. Particularly considering how hard COVID-19 has been on gyms and in-person training, a dedicated at-home workout concept seems to make sense.

OxeFit has unveiled its first smart, at-home fitness system, the XS1 which the company says now combines strength, cardio, balance, and immersive interactive fitness training all in a single apparatus. Think of it as a better-than-Bowflex home gym for the pandemic generation, featuring sensors, cameras, and real-time feedback on your workouts, positioning, and results.

Read more