Doctors Will Test Gene Editing On HIV Patients 263
Soychemist writes "Some people have a mutation that makes them highly resistant to HIV, and scientists think that they can give that immunity to anyone with a new type of gene therapy. The first human trials will start at the University of Pennsylvania this week. Researchers will draw blood from people with drug-resistant HIV, clip the CCR5 gene out of their T-cells with a nuclease enzyme, grow the modified cells in a dish, and then return 10 billion of them to the patient's bloodstream. Those cells will be immune to the virus, and they will keep the patient's T-cell count up even if the rest are destroyed. 'We will see if it is safe and if those cells inhibit HIV replication in vivo,' said the lead researcher. 'We know they do in the test tube.'"
AIDS cured on Slashdot? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:1, Funny)
Probably shouldn't mention it at the next keynote, then.
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sounds expensive... (Score:1, Funny)
Let's not besmirch the guy's education. I'm sure they had sex-ed when he was in school, but you know how it is - if you never make use of something you soon forget it.
M-x genotype-mode (Score:5, Funny)
You *know* there's going to be an Emacs mode for gene editing.
Re:It's about time ... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:5, Funny)
Hope not, that would mean no more Slashdot :(
You must be old here.
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:1, Funny)
What could go wrong? Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome [memory-alpha.org].
Re:M-x genotype-mode (Score:1, Funny)
Screw it, I'll just use Genepad.
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:5, Funny)
CGI super demons... who cannot be stopped by AIDS alone.
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:5, Funny)
What's the worst that could happen, they screw it up and you die?
You'll lose all your body hair; become a human-biting-albino that're very sensitive to sunlight; start biting humans and then turn them into your kind; you'll keep your biting until the T-virus in your body because air-bourne infecting disease, when you'd find no human alive for you to bite.
I didn't mean it'd happen, but since you asked for the worse...
Re:Gene editing? (Score:3, Funny)
I think of my accidental select-all, delete-key combos:
"Oh shit... undo, undo!"
Could I have my genes edited, please? (Score:4, Funny)
"I'd like darker skin and, uh... healthy eyes? The latter is kinda more important, so if I can have only one, then that should be it.
On the other hand, if you give discounts for multiple edits, then why not. Throw in a large-penis-gene, too. I hear that's all the rage, these days."
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:4, Funny)
Enough with the negativity. I want my monkey-man, goddamnit!
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:2, Funny)
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:3, Funny)
Re:might as well guinea pig at that point (Score:2, Funny)
Funny...