Geneediting Trials for Longevity

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Aging is not a disease. You cannot, by definition, begin a clinical trial for a disease that doesn't exist. The other problem with doing clinical trials for longevity is these trials take a while. So now imagine a genediting trial where, you know, a the scientists at the innovative genomics institute at the university of california berkeley have found a way to crank up the longevity gene. And there we are with our with our frantic look in our eyes, in our lap coats, about to inject somebody ith longevity juice and then, of course, wel wait forty five years to see if they live longer. Yes, it ist super hard to do.

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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