Matt Ridley at Rational Optimist Society:
The announcement last week that a nine-month-old baby in Philadelphia has been cured of a rare genetic disorder by gene editing is a great moment in medical history. For the first time, doctors have altered a gene inside many cells in the liver of a living human being using CRISPR, the molecular tool borrowed from microbes that can home in on particular DNA sequences and in some cases alter them.
It reinforces my view that biotechnology, applied to medicine, represents the greatest opportunity for innovation, and the greatest hope for rational optimism in the current generation. More so, perhaps, even than artificial intelligence (AI).
The baby, known as KJ, lacked a working copy of a gene vital for processing protein in food. This meant that even with a very low protein diet, he would probably die young or face mental and physical disability – even if he could get a liver transplant when a little older. Today, after the experimental treatment, he is thriving.
More here.
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