50 Years Ago Genetics,Health Genetic Surgery is closer to reality
Excerpt from the September 24, 1966, issue of Science News
By Cassie Martin 7:00am, September 8, 2016
SCALPEL, PLEASE The development of gene-editing tools like TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9 may soon make ‘genetic surgery’ a reality.
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Magazine issue: Vol. 190, No. 6, September 17, 2016, p. 4
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Genetic surgery is far away for humans — Optimism concerning application of genetic experiments to improve mankind is unwarranted now, a Canadian pediatrician told the Third International Congress of Human Genetics meeting in Chicago…. Although striking and sometimes controversial experiments in genetic surgery have in fact been performed in multicellular systems, he explained, public demand seems likely to outstrip scientific resources for the treatment of many forms of genetic disease. — Science News, September 24, 1966
UPDATE
Things are looking up for “genetic surgery.” Gene therapy has been around since the 1980s, but researchers have recently developed more precise gene-editing tools, including one that sent a child’s leukemia into remission in 2015. Scientists are most excited about a molecular scalpel known as CRISPR/Cas9 that cuts and manipulates DNA (SN: 9/3/16, p. 22). Researchers are optimistic about the tool’s potential to treat several diseases, but it may be a while before CRISPR is widely used.
Citations
Genetic surgery is far away for humans. Science News. Vol. 90, September 24, 1966, p. 220.
Further Reading
T.H. Saey. CRISPR gets a makeover. Science News. Vol. 190, September 3, 2016, p. 22.
T.H. Saey. Researchers edit genes in human embryos for second time. Science News Online, April 8, 2016.
T.H. Saey. Year in review: Breakthrough gene editor sparks ethics debate. Science News. Vol. 188, December 26, 2015, p. 18.
T.H. Saey. Gene editing helps a baby battle cancer. Science News. Vol. 188, December 12, 2015, p. 7.
T.H. Saey. Gene editing makes pigs safer for human transplants. Science News. Vol. 188, November 14, 2015, p. 6.
A. Yeager. Gene editing reverses liver disorder in mice. Science News Online, March 31, 2014.
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