American Heart Association reports Gene Editing Technology may improve accuracy of predicting individuals’ Heart Disease Risk
July 12, 2018
American Heart Association Circulation Journal Report
Dallas, TX – Scientists may now be able to predict whether carrying a specific genetic variant increases a person’s risk for disease using gene editing and stem cell technologies, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
For the first time, the study demonstrates the unique potential of combining stem cell-based disease modeling (Induced pluripotent stem cells) and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing technology as a personalized risk-assessment platform for determining the disease-causing ability of a yet undescribed genetic variant, known as a “variant of uncertain significance” or VUS.
Gene-editing technology may help scientists discern whether genetic variations with undetermined effects are harmless or dangerous. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association reports Scientists think Public Opinion important before Human Gene Editing
October 8, 2017
Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics Journal Report
Dallas, TX – The public should be consulted before gene editing is used to treat human embryos, according to a survey of scientists published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.
“Early studies with human embryos have established the feasibility of human germline genome editing but raise complex social, ethical and legal questions,” said Kiran Musunuru, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, lead survey author and an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The public should be consulted before gene editing is used to treat human embryos, a survey of 300 cardiovascular researchers finds.
