Chinese scientists were the first to introduce cells with genes modified by the CRISPR / Cas9 system into humans. This was done as part of an experiment to treat aggressive cancer. On Wednesday, November 16, the journal Nature reports.
The researchers extracted immune cells (T lymphocytes) from the blood of a patient with metastatic lung cancer and then used CRISPR technology to turn off the gene that encodes the PD-1 protein. The latter has been shown to suppress immunity by promoting tumor growth. Scientists cultivated the edited cells, increasing their number, and then injecting them back into the human body. In the future, doctors will monitor the condition of the subject to find out if gene therapy will help cope with the disease.
According to the researchers, the genome modification procedure was successful and the patient will receive a second injection soon. In addition, 10 more people will take part in the tests, each of whom will be given two to four injections. Each volunteer will be monitored for six months to see if the treatment could cause serious side effects.
CRISPR is a piece of bacterial DNA that combines repeating parts - short palindromic repeats - and spacers. Spacers differ from each other in nucleotide sequences and are located between repeats. They are pieces of DNA borrowed from viruses or parasitic bacteria and are responsible for recognizing similar foreign genetic material. Cas9 proteins cut the genes of the parasite.
