August 28th, 2008
We can change your cells and cure your diabetes
This may be the most important medical research story of the year.
A team headed by Doug Melton (left), who works for both the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Howard Hughes Medical Institute has succeeded in transforming the function of cells, simply by injecting them with new genes.
One scientist said “it turns the entire field on its head.”
Melton writes on his personal page that he first got involved in stem cell research after his son was diagnosed with Type I diabetes in 1993.
“When my son Sam was diagnosed, I did what any parent would do: I asked myself, ‘What can I do?’”
You done good, Doc.
The gene therapy was performed on mice, whose usefulness as test animals is based on their similarity to human beings. Pancreas cells were induced to produce insulin after being injected with viruses containing insulin-producing genes.
While in theory the technique bypasses the whole embryonic stem cell debate, it opens up a whole new can of worms. Injecting people with viruses is against current FDA guidelines.
The diabetes community is most over-the-moon about this, but it’s a general technique that could also be applied to other conditions, like heart disease and ALS.
Transforming cells through the injection of genes is a very big deal. While it will take some time to prove, and even more time to reach the market, it’s a true medical revolution.
That sort of thing doesn’t happen every day.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and has covered technology since 1982. He launched the Interactive Age Daily, the first daily coverage of the Internet to launch with a magazine, in September 1994. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 08/28/08
