If you think my comments on changing our genomes were crazy, here is a trial whose CRISPR experiment did edit cells in the ovaries–of monkeys. Pay attention.
The company wants to try it in young women now
GENE EDITING from STAT
Intellia downplays concerns about accidental germline transmission in CRISPR trial
Adobe
Like gene therapy before it, CRISPR editing has inspired fears of accidentally transmitting genetic changes intended to correct a disease or condition into sperm or eggs, with unintended and unknown consequences. Last weekend Intellia, one of the leading companies developing in vivo gene editing therapies, reassured scientists at a Cold Spring Harbor conference that its studies show “there’s no evidence of vertical germline transmission of those edits,” Jonathan Phillips, Intellia’s head of pharmacology and toxicology, said.
Phillips was talking about a mid-stage CRISPR trial for hereditary angioedema that the company halted after the FDA requested more data to support including female patients of childbearing potential. A NEJM study of a different transthyretin amyloidosis therapy noted that in three out of 12 female monkeys, there was gene editing in the animals’ ovaries, but it was unclear whether that was in cells that would become eggs or in cells around them…