New heights in the health sector, begins with the initiative that scientists are to develop the world’s first cure for a genetic heart condition. This is set to be achieved by rewriting DNA for cardiovascular medicine.
A team of global experts ranging from the UK, US, and Singapore is set to join together to design a jab. This jab is to be designed in the arm for the patients. It would save thousands of lives. They are being awarded a £30 grant from the British Heart Foundation.
A big leap will be taken in terms of curing age, and genetic heart disease. To begin with, the team will be using preciseness in the genetic technique t. This precision genetic technique is called the base and prime editing. This will be done in the heart for the first time. The structure and test would be conducted for the first time. It is primarily for those with inherited heart muscle diseases. This new advancement aims to deaden faulty genes. Research on animals has shown results regarding the technique.
Cardiovascular medicine prepares itself for a defining moment. The experts will be working on inherited heart diseases. Inherited heart diseases are accompanied by different heart abnormalities. It could cause sudden death or increasing heart failure. 260,000 people have this condition in the UK which can lead to sudden death at any age. In the UK every week witnesses 12 people under the age of 35 die due to some undiagnosed heart muscle disease. This symptom is also known as genetic cardiomyopathy.
People diagnosed with genetic cardiomyopathy have a 50-50 risk of giving their defective genes to the next generation. Oftentimes it is seen that members of the same family have heart failure or they require a heart transplant or they die at a very young age. The team for this mission was selected under an advisory council by Professor Sir Patrick Vallance who is the UK government’s chief advisor. CureHeart Project’s lead investigator from the University of Oxford named Professor Hugh Watkins said that cardiomyopathies are common. It affects one person in every 250 people around the world. He puts forward that this is their once-in-generation opportunity to help families with unusual heart situations. It has taken 30 years of research to identify the know-how of the defected genes in cardiomyopathies. He assures of the opinion that within the next five years gene therapy is to be ready for its testing in clinical trials.
Christine Seidman the co-leader of the CureHeart project and a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School in the US says that the prime driving force was to cure hearts so that they can function normally. The mutation of the human patients alters at one single letter in the DNA code. They attempt to change the DNA code to restore the normal functioning of the gene.
