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Gene Defect Corrected in Human Stem Cells

technologyreview.com — For the first time, researchers have fixed the gene defect in cells from patients with an inherited disease, and then transformed the tissue into stem cells with the potential to reverse their condition. While scientists haven't yet tested the treatment in humans, the research could mark the beginning of a new age of curative treatments for many...

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 1, 2009

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  • Colecoman1982, on 06/01/2009, -0/+15Actually, this would be the opposite of Gattaca. In the movie, once they found out you had a genetic defect you were branded for life and unable to change your status with anything short of, illegal, identity theft. This seems to offer the hope of people being able to correct severe genetic disorders and, possibly, choose to "upgrade" themselves.
  • Osirus1156, on 06/01/2009, -3/+14I love stories that give me faith in humanity.
  • lvsbks, on 06/01/2009, -0/+10For those of us with inherited medical conditions this is wonderful news. However I was led to believe that gene therapy could cure our problem 20 years ago so I take it all with a grain of salt.
  • playuhh, on 06/01/2009, -1/+5Any motivation which pushes me to continue in this major is welcome.
  • PlusTheBear, on 06/01/2009, -1/+5Dugg for humanity
  • Ne007, on 06/01/2009, -0/+4Can somebody go back 10 years and post the links to the scientific cures that were supposed to be released back then?

    Somebody should index these things to show how much ***** is said.
  • andyd273, on 06/01/2009, -0/+3it doesn't sound like this comes from embryonic stem cells.
    It sounds more like it comes from the adults own cells being turned into stem cells.

    Now, I don't know the industry, so you could be right, but is this something where the easy source was cut off (embryonic) and so the scientists had to get creative and try to find new sources?
  • andyd273, on 06/01/2009, -0/+3By definition I'd say no, since there is a very good chance that your parents had sex at least once.
    On the other hand, if you never have sex, I can say with some certainty that your children will never have sex.
    So it's not something that you can inherit from your parents, but it is something you can pass on to your kids...

    Either way, this procedure will not help you get lucky.
    Have you tried getting a personality? Chicks really dig em...
    If nothing else, I hear booze works.
  • richirwin, on 06/01/2009, -0/+3SCIENCE!
  • FritoPendejo, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2Dugg for spite.
  • sanman, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2The Umbrella Corporation will be pleased
  • Defiant001, on 06/01/2009, -1/+3Dugg for digging
  • AMD64MM, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2Is no sex life an inherited disease?
  • DaNuKaSAN, on 06/01/2009, -1/+3Dugg for Megan Fox...oh wait.
  • ftc08, on 06/01/2009, -4/+6I bet we would have found this years ago if it weren't for Bush.
  • ugabandit7, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2Science Win.
  • CaptCarrot, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2Actually, the adult stem cells are the easier source, and have been the only source of stem cells that have shown potential.

    But that's an argument for another thread.
  • HavocXphere, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2Would be great if this takes off.

    Lets hope it doesn't get bogged down in years of approvals & trials.
  • LightPhoenix, on 06/01/2009, -0/+2While this is great news, this is very far from a treatment. Genetic transformation is, quite frankly, the easy part. Next, those stem cells have to be placed back into the host, told to differentiate a certain way, in a certain place, and even then there's no guarantee the damage will be repaired. You have to have enough of them to produce enough product (cells, proteins, whatever) to actually make a difference. There are a number of questions.

    I don't know much about this anemia aside from reading the basics on Wikipedia. While this may help with blood cell production, this won't correct the developmental issues that arise. Jewish FA patients aren't going to suddenly grow thumbs.

    This is neat science, and it's got a lot of potential. However, this should by no means be interpreted as a magic bullet to solve all problems, or even any problems. That's why we have clinical trials.
  • Traiklin, on 06/01/2009, -1/+3kind of hard if you are speaking....unless you might be a test tube baby.
  • Ne007, on 06/01/2009, -0/+1No I got it right.

    He was wondering if "no sex life" was an inherited disease.
    THEREFORE he could be cured from a genetic cure.
  • Ne007, on 06/01/2009, -0/+1the key word there is "curative".
  • apzdsx, on 06/01/2009, -2/+3Praise Science!
  • inactive, on 06/01/2009, -3/+4We see stories like this all the time.

    Problem is, the actual procedures never see the light of day.

    I'll bet you any money this won't show it's face in the next 15 years. Just like artificial hearts, livers, blah blah, and other things that only insanely rich people can afford.
  • Ne007, on 06/01/2009, -1/+2you totally missed on that one.

    The man has no sex life. He wants a cure.
  • PleaseJustDie, on 06/01/2009, -1/+2Hopefully it'll be covered by insurance...
  • JazzFlight, on 06/01/2009, -0/+1Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with andyd273, it's a little too "kneejerk" to just blame Bush whenever the term "stem cells" comes up. The article deals with adult stem cells, not embryonic ones. If anything, the results here may have come to fruition because of the limits placed on embryonic stem cell research.

    I'm not advocating for/against either side here, I'm just annoyed that every Digg story dealing with stem cells has people commenting who don't know the difference between embryonic and adult stem cells.
  • clifyt, on 06/02/2009, -0/+1"the key word there is "curative"."

    You keep telling yourself this. Most illnesses ARE cured...but the most serious have deep genetic issues that keep them from anything other than being managed. Even the holisitic meds that people push towards fixing someone, all the while saying THE PHARM INDUSTRY WANTS TO KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOOOOOO is at best changing the scenario you live with, not curing anything, and only offering management of the disease either through the symptoms or he cause.

    Until genetics can be changed, and that's what this is trying to do...curatives won't be around. Sadly, this lack of understanding is why most people have a dismal belief of the medical industry. And even if the pharms could somehow bury this technology 'to keep you hooked for life', capitalism has a way of getting through where SOMEONE will decide to undercut the others and bring it to market.

    Me? I'm hoping to see some of this sooner than later because I already lost one family member this year to a shared disorder, and I'm sick of being sampled and cultured every couple of weeks!
  • inactive, on 06/01/2009, -0/+1Because no research ever leads to curative treatments?
  • rugabug, on 06/02/2009, -0/+1Fix the vitamin C gene already.
  • Countess666, on 06/01/2009, -0/+1including development, testing and human trials your right it probably wont.

    those harts and livers are still in development, and making good progress btw.
  • PleaseJustDie, on 06/01/2009, -1/+2no he got it, you missed,

    He asked if its inherited. Unless he was a product of in vitro fertilization his parents had sex and therefore his lack of sex could not have been inherited.
  • sanman, on 06/01/2009, -0/+1I love any stories that relate to the big penis gene
  • Ne007, on 06/01/2009, -1/+1People will digg you down even though you are right.

    I've been reading this sorta ***** since I was a kid.....and even that ***** STILL isn't around.
  • p3ngwin, on 06/01/2009, -1/+1"performance enhancing drugs,etc" will have a new meaning when it comes to people bitching about "unfair" advantage.
  • Gustomucho, on 06/03/2009, -1/+1IMO it is the same, you end up modifying the genes so you have a "pure" breed.
  • Gustomucho, on 06/01/2009, -7/+7Gattaca?
  • CaptCarrot, on 06/01/2009, -2/+1And when parents discover their unborn child carries a gene for something which the doctors can go in and correct, will we still be singing the praises of science?
  • Countess666, on 06/01/2009, -1/+0(luckily) it takes a long time before anything is ready for human trials and those trials last a long while.
    try 15-20 years and you should see a lot more being used today that was being developed back then.
  • caveman33, on 06/01/2009, -3/+0Did anyone see "I am Legend"? A virus to duplicate the cells? Argh.
  • MajinAku, on 06/01/2009, -4/+1Dugg for owning Christians in the face!

    Take that Christians! No stem cells for you!!
  • Ne007, on 06/01/2009, -8/+2 "the research could mark the beginning of a new age of curative treatments for many."

    Yeh....and if you believe that I've got some great swamp land to sell you.

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