"In Mice, CRISPR-Based Alzheimer’s Therapies Inch Forward"
What will it take before CRISPR/Cas gene editing technology might treat Alzheimer’s disease? Much more work, to be sure, but researchers are devising approaches, and grappling with the challenges of translating the technology from cells to animals, and some day to people. “The main challenge with CRISPR is that while you can watch and control as it repairs the mutation you want to eliminate, the enzyme can create new mutations elsewhere. To some extent you can find those with whole-genome sequencing, but if you miss one, that could be disaster,” wrote Samuel Gandy, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and psychiatry and associate director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Gandy’s team has used the technology to correct PS2 mutations in patient cells.
- Samuel Gandy, MD, PhD, Professor, Neurology, Psychiatry, Associate Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai