BBC Focus - 03.2020

8.PARALYSEDPATIENTSWALKAGAIN

Paralysedpatientsluckyenoughto

beenrolledin clinicaltrialsarealready

walkingagainthankstorapidly

advancingneurotechnology.In 2018,

SwissandUKscientistsannounced

theyhadplacednervesignal-boosting

implantsintothespinesofthreemen

paralysedin roadandsportingaccidents.

Allarenowabletowalka shortdistance.

Andjustlastyear,in a trulysci-fi-

styledemonstration,researchersat

theGrenobleUniversityHospitalin

Franceusedanexoskeletontogivea

28-year-oldmanbacktheuseofhis

lowerlimbsafterfallingandbreakinghis

neck.Themanusestwo64-electrode

brainimplantstocontroltherobo-suit.

STANFORD/RISD/APPLIEDDESIGN,

SCIENCE

PHOTO

LIBRARY,

EPFL/

JAMANI

CALLIET

7.DISEASES

EDITEDOUT OF

OURDNA

Thegene-editingtool

CRISPRcouldfinally

treatdiseaseat the

geneticlevel

Thebirthoftheworld’sfirst

gene-editedbabiescauseduproarin

2018.Thetwingirlswhosegenomes

weretinkeredwithduringIVF

procedureshadtheirDNAalteredusing

thegene-editingtechnologyCRISPR,to

protectthemfromHIV.CRISPRusesa

bacterialenzymetotargetandcut

specificDNAsequences.Chinese

researcher, He Jiankui, who led the

work,wassenttoprisonfor

disregardingsafetyguidelinesand

failingtoobtaininformedconsent.But

inethicallysoundstudies,CRISPRis

poisedtotreatlife-threatening

conditions.Beforethecontroversy,

ChinesescientistsinjectedCRISPR-

editedimmunecellsintoa patientto

help them fight lung cancer. By 2018,

twoUStrialsusingsimilartechniquesin

differentkindsofcancerpatientswere

upandrunning,withthreepatients

reportedtohavereceivedtheiredited

immunecellsback.Gene-editingis also

beingtestedasa treatmentforinherited

blooddiseasesicklecellanaemia,an

ongoingtrialwillcollectandeditstem

cells from patients’ own blood.