Gene editing with CRISPR to stop disease before birth

Recently researchers have edited genes with CRISPR technology to prevent lethal lung disease. Scientists are able to do this by inserting CRISPR reagents into the amniotic fluid while the fetus is still developing. The gene editors were introduced four days before mice gave birth and a change in the airway. After doing this there is much to be discovered but they were able to save 22 percent of the animals from this disease. It's proven that there gene editing worked because otherwise the mice would've died within 24 hours.

More research will be done to see how effective the treatment is in the trial phase. However, I can't help but think about how groundbreaking that would be in order to prevent diseases in people before they actually happen. This research isn't the first of it's kind though and actually started with working on liver disease which can also kill in a relatively quick amount of time. I think that also looking into pancreatic cancer or other cancers would also be influential in there research because of the large effect it has on the human population. Maybe someday we'll be able to edit out all of the diseases out of a person's genome using advanced technology like CRISPR.

CRISPR Treats Lung Disease Before Birth

An article is ScienceDaily explains how using CRISPR gene editing can be a new approach for treating a lethal lung disease before birth. A research team from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine used CRISPR on an animal model that had a lethal lung disease. Some lethal lung diseases that the research team is trying to fix before birth are respiratory disorders and congenital causes of respiratory diseases. If a child was to be born with one of these lung diseases, there is a very high chance of death, and that is why research teams are trying fix the lung disease before the baby is born. CRISPR is used to edit gene cells that are lining the airways of the lungs. The researchers identified alveolar epithelial progenitor (AEP) lineage which are cells that keep the lungs from collapsing while breathing. These cells are very stable and replicate quickly to regenerate the lining.

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I found this article to be very interesting because there are researchers that are trying to figure out new ways to decrease deaths in newborn babies with lung disease. It is also very interesting that they use gene editing to make new cells that can help make a more stable lung for a baby. Lastly, they are doing this gene editing while the baby is in the third trimester which is amazing.

Breathtaking gene discovery in Dalmatian dogs

A new genetic study conducted by the University of Helsinki has uncovered a gene associated with acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS) in dogs specifically dalmatians. Acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS) is a condition of sudden respiratory failure due to fluid accumulation, and severe inflammation in the lungs.To diagnose acute respiratory disease most veterinarians will use  the method of  blood gas analysis that measures the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood to determine how well the lungs are functioning.  In humans there are many causes for lethal respiratory distress such as pneumonia. In dogs the cause is a genetic disorder resulting from a defect in anillin protein which binds to actin, this protein is important in cell division and growth. Lack of anillin can lead to malformed epithelial structures thus inhaled air, will become trapped in the alveolar walls. The mortality rate in dogs that have ARDS is 100 percent if left untreated.Despite advances ARDS still remains one of the most difficult disease to treat. This gene discovery provides new insights into the mechanism of lung injuries that can lead to recovery or complete eradicate it from certain breeds. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170314092756.htm

http://www.mydogdna.com/

Genetic link between smoking and lung disease

 At Queen’s Medical Centre at the University of Nottingham, Prof. Ian Hall has created a study to find out what causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The goal was to study how genetics coincide with airflow obstruction and smoking behavior. The team looked at how genetics is involved with the smoking behaviors and the “lung phenotypes.” There was evidence that both smokers and nonsmokers had lung deficits caused by genetics. This lead them to believe that smoking and genetics are independent variables causing COPD.

The study itself varied from people who had never smoked before to heavy smokers. These people were also chosen whether they had high or low forced expiratory volume (how much air a person can exhale during a forced breath and is captured through spirometry). The FEV was studied to determine if the different FEV variations were related to genetic causes of different phenotypes. Using a new genotyping array, the scientists could compare lung health and smoking behavior with different genetic variations for the entire human genome.

The results showed six independent genetic variants with both lung health and COPD, but they also found genetic variants related with COPD in people who had never smoked. The fact that the team found the same sequence of a genome in both smokers and non smokers shows how variable gene regulation is. This study sheds light on airflow obstruction, COPD, and tobacco addiction and also how evident it is that genetic build can cause airflow obstruction whether they smoke or not. The researchers do think that further research should be done with the genetic factors to expand on the current study, they also think that this study thus will lead to prevention and treatment with COPD and hopefully help people stop smoking in the long run. 
I think this is super important because so many people are affected by COPD and it is important to know how it is caused. Even if you don't smoke you could still be at risk from gene variation, this could be from second hand smoke, the main goal is to stop smoking and increase lung health.

For more on this study click here! 
For more on how smoking can cause lung diseases click here!