Apart from Modafinil and 4-Aminpyridine, I regularly post about Crispr CAS-9.
It is coming, folks. Like it or not. Never mind the designer babies, Frankenstein food and human/fish hybrids, I just want my ABCD1 gene fixed, and be quick about it.
Nice, short video about Crispr in the Guardian today. A short, informative watch.
Thanks for posting this moneybus. I have been following CRISPR a bit also and it is exciting. But, two things occur to immediately. One, Prof Doudna talks a lot in the video about fixing embryos, so I wonder if that's "easier" somehow than a mature human being? Second, the safety aspect is mentioned because I don't think they have found yet a secure way to make sure that the DNA that is clipped is the correct bit. A few letters this way or that could be disastrous presumably.
Still, it's all great. Must read Prof Doudna's book.
The other thing I keep reminding myself about is that it's one thing to halt the impact of a mutated ABCD1 gene, but it won't bring about the automatic repair of damaged myelin/axons. So, as far as I know, it won't help repair the bodies of those of us who are already affected.
We need more research on myelin repair. There has been a lot of scientific work on understanding oligodendrocytes which are key to myelin formation. Good overview at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligo...
Without a doubt, you are right. I had already filed it under, "Not in my lifetime". Though, remember that Crispr was illegal until just a few years ago. They only legalised it after they realised that the Chinese would soon own the entire technology, so far advanced were they. Even now, most Chinese research hardly makes the news.
As for repairing the damage to, say, the myelin. I am sure the human body can cope. I have bad days, and some surprisingly excellent days, vis-a-vis the old spasticity. What's all that about? A spot of emergency remyelination? I asked my neurologist, I may as well have asked them man down the pub, "I don't know". But if I could function as well as on my best days, I'd be a happy man.
Be that as it may, some genetic diseases have already been cured, and in adults as well. If a gene is a gene is a gene, then we are almost home free.
Though, as we all know, life is never that simple
Struggling with Returning Persistent Neuropathic Pain and Spasms. 
