Gene editing cholesterol control, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): Imagine receiving a single treatment that keeps cholesterol under control for decades, without the need to take medication every day. Advances in gene editing are bringing this possibility closer.
However, permanently modifying DNA also poses risks that could appear many years later. Researchers are studying how these technologies could be used to prevent or treat common diseases, such as high cholesterol and cardiovascular problems.
In the future, applications against obesity and diabetes could also be explored. Unlike conventional medications, which must be administered continuously, some genetic therapies aim to produce lasting changes through a single intervention.
These techniques can introduce functional copies of genes, silence those that cause harmful effects, or directly modify specific DNA sequences.
Gene therapy has already achieved important advances against rare diseases, such as spinal muscular atrophy and sickle cell anemia. The challenge now is to determine whether some of these technologies can be used safely and effectively against much more common conditions.
Cardiologists Eric D. Smith and Venkatesh L.
Murthy, of the University of Michigan, warn that permanently modifying DNA poses significant safety challenges. While a conventional medication can be stopped or adjusted if side effects appear, a genetic modification could be difficult to reverse.
In addition, some complications could take years to emerge.
In a perspective article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers also highlight cost: some currently available gene therapies can exceed one million dollars per patient. Extending treatments at that price to diseases affecting millions of people would represent an enormous economic and health challenge.
“Long-term safety monitoring must be an integral part of how a therapy reaches patients,” Smith said.
For now, the possibility of controlling common diseases through a single genetic intervention remains a research promise, not a widely available option.
