Researchers are preparing to trial the personalized base-editing therapy that saved a baby boy last year in at least five more children. Plus, get to know the real Francis Crick and what tree rings reveal about ancient coffins.
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Baby KJ Muldoon, who was born with a genetic disease that affected his ability to metabolize proteins, is the first person to receive a bespoke CRISPR treatment. Credit: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
After a cutting-edge, personalized gene-editing therapy saved baby KJ Muldoon’s life late last year, the researchers behind the feat are gearing up to do it again, at least five times over. Their clinical trial, expected to begin next year, will deploy an offshoot of the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing technique called base editing, which allows scientists to make precise, single-letter changes to DNA sequences. The treatment for KJ was produced in a record-breaking six months, “but I think we can get it shorter”, says cardiologist Kiran Musunuru, who was one of the baby’s doctors.
Nature | 6 min read
Reference: American Journal of Human Genetics paper
Scientists have discovered a powerful antibiotic while studying the process through which a soil bacterium naturally produces a well-known drug. The compound — called premethylenomycin C lactone — is more than 100 times more active against bacteria than the final product, antibiotic methylenomycin A, which was first identified in 1965. Tiny doses of the surprise discovery killed strains of bacteria known to cause hard-to-treat infections.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Journal of the American Chemical Society paper
An ambitious attempt by the Indian government to reduce Delhi’s toxic air pollution by inducing artificial rain has failed to trigger any precipitation. In the experiment last week, aircraft flew over the city and released particles of silver iodide and sodium chloride into the atmosphere to help water vapour to condense. Researchers say that the atmospheric conditions weren’t suitable for the experiment to succeed, but even if it had, such ‘cloud seeding’ attempts can’t solve Delhi’s pollution problem. “The obvious solution is also a boring one — clean up the sources,” says aerosol scientist Shahzad Gani.
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