Is There a Realistic Target for the Future?

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In the next five to ten years there absolutely will be dramatic advancees in the treatment of certain forms of cancer using this approach. Certain previously incurable cancers are now curable. A lot of people are working on the application of gen editing of the human immune system to eradicate more challenging cancers. There's early stage progress, but i'm completely convinced that the next 5 to 10 years will see more cure. When i know cure is a big word. The other one is certain forms of genetic disease. This is moving natural variants from one person to another. And is this? I mean, how optimistic can we let ourselves be about, you know, the fight against cancer or even just like

Not too long ago nobody carried a mobile phone; now almost everybody does. That’s the kind of rate of rapid progress we’re seeing with our ability to directly edit genomes. With the use of CRISPR-Cas9 and other techniques, gene editing is becoming commonplace. How does that work — and perhaps more importantly, how are we going to put it to use? Fyodor Urnov has worked in this area from its beginning, having coined the term “gene editing.” We talk about how this new technology can be used to cure or prevent disease, as well as the pros and cons of designer babies.

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Fyodor Urnov received his Ph.D. in Biology from Brown University. He is currently professor of Genetic, Genomics, and Development in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley, as well as Director for Technology and Translation at the Innovative Genomics Institute. His research focuses on using CRISPR gene-editing techniques to develop treatments for sickle cell disease, radiation injury, and other conditions, as well as guiding IGI researchers as they bring these therapies from the lab to the clinic.

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