Mend a broken heart – with CRISPR
CRISPR gene-editing is an incredibly exciting new technology. In the latest sign of its potential, it was used to repair the damaged hearts of mice who had suffered heart attacks.
“‘Usually, depriving the heart of oxygen for an extended period, as often happens in a heart attack, will damage it substantially,’ said study co-leader Eric Olson. ‘But those animals whose heart muscles were subjected to gene editing after induced heart attacks seem to be essentially normal in the weeks and months afterward.’”
It’s a long way from therapeutic use in humans, but a sign of interesting things that may be round the corner.