Via @[740721347:2048:Virginia Postrel]
Phage therapy + CRISPR: "The London patient’s case is a milestone—she is the first person to be treated with phages that have been genetically engineered. “It requires trust to take a leap off the edge into completely unknown medicine,” says Hatfull, who appreciates that many people might be unnerved by his team’s work. “The idea of using a virus in the first place is challenging, let alone messing around with it,” he acknowledges.
He clarifies that his team simply deleted a gene that both BPs and ZoeJ would switch off naturally, when they eventually decide to flip from passive stowaways to active killers. The team also didn’t add any genes from other organisms into the phages—an important distinction, which meant that, under UK and European Union regulations, the viruses didn’t count as genetically modified organisms."
Phage therapy + CRISPR: "The London patient’s case is a milestone—she is the first person to be treated with phages that have been genetically engineered. “It requires trust to take a leap off the edge into completely unknown medicine,” says Hatfull, who appreciates that many people might be unnerved by his team’s work. “The idea of using a virus in the first place is challenging, let alone messing around with it,” he acknowledges.
He clarifies that his team simply deleted a gene that both BPs and ZoeJ would switch off naturally, when they eventually decide to flip from passive stowaways to active killers. The team also didn’t add any genes from other organisms into the phages—an important distinction, which meant that, under UK and European Union regulations, the viruses didn’t count as genetically modified organisms."