(ORDO NEWS) — American scientists introduced into the liver of a living person the serum they developed for gene editing. With this new drug, you can reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the body.
Researchers at US biotech company Verve Therapeutics injected a gene-editing serum into the liver of a living patient to lower cholesterol levels.
This is a watershed in the history of gene editing that could potentially save millions of people from cardiovascular disease and heart attacks, according to the MIT Technology Review.
How the serum works
The new drug was named VERVE-101. Previously, its effectiveness was tested on monkeys, and the results were encouraging.
Now the researchers have moved on to human clinical trials by injecting the serum into the liver of a New Zealand patient.
Verve Therapeutics experts claim that their development is able to edit genes in such a way that the liver begins to produce less “bad” cholesterol, which in excess leads to blockage of the arteries.
Unlike classic high cholesterol treatments that include strict diets, exercise, and medication, VERVE-101 is long-lasting and much more effective.
“VERVE-101 is a first-in-class gene-editing drug that we have developed so that with just one DNA editing in the liver, a disease-causing gene can be permanently disabled,” said Sekar Katiresan, founder of Verve Therapeutics.
The company is now hoping to enroll about 40 adult patients with familial heterozygous hypercholesterolemia, an inherited genetic disorder that causes dangerously high cholesterol levels, to participate in trials. With their help, scientists hope to evaluate the safety of their drug.
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