4 ms·

Narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease sometimes triggered by flu? Fascinating. If only we could control the immune system better, we could fix so many problems.

godzillabrennus 4y ago
There is so much that I hope gene hacking can do...
- WalterSear 4y ago
  Human clinical trials of a mRNA-based vaccine for some autoimmune diseases are currently underway, fwiw.
  - mleonhard 4y ago
    Please post a link.
    - WalterSear 4y ago
      https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04916431 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04916431 https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2021/08/02/Moderna-takes-first-autoimmune-therapeutic-candidate-into-the-clinic https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2021/08/02/Modern... https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/moderna-trial-mrna-treatment/ https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/moderna-trial-mrna-... https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31130-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31130-9
- echelon 4y ago
  Unfortunately the BCR and TCR spatial conformations that govern antigen binding affinity are a result of somatic recombination [1]. The genes edit themselves at runtime to fit their target better. It's stochastic hill climbing happening within us while we're alive. This would make it very difficult to target a specific gene to edit without having a wide blast radius. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V(D)J_recombination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V(D)J_recombination
  - beagle3 4y ago
    We do have a blunt B-cell reset tool though. Rituximab has been in use for two decades now, and recently there are newer drugs based on the same idea that are even more human-compatible.
echelon 4y ago
Unfortunately the system of learning, fine tuning, and amplification that the body uses can learn things incorrectly. Viral particles can not only be picked up as antigen, but they can also serve as adjuvant to aid the immune system in learning the wrong thing. Auto-immune reactions are pretty rare. Central and peripheral tolerance are supposed to delete any cells that are close enough to matching against self. Developing allergies (eg. pollen, dog, etc.) can happen this way [1], and there is less mechanism to prevent it. [1] https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/19/2/341 https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/19/2/341

godzillabrennus 4y ago

There is so much that I hope gene hacking can do...

WalterSear 4y ago
Human clinical trials of a mRNA-based vaccine for some autoimmune diseases are currently underway, fwiw.
- mleonhard 4y ago
  Please post a link.
  - WalterSear 4y ago
    https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04916431 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04916431 https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2021/08/02/Moderna-takes-first-autoimmune-therapeutic-candidate-into-the-clinic https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2021/08/02/Modern... https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/moderna-trial-mrna-treatment/ https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/moderna-trial-mrna-... https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31130-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31130-9
echelon 4y ago
Unfortunately the BCR and TCR spatial conformations that govern antigen binding affinity are a result of somatic recombination [1]. The genes edit themselves at runtime to fit their target better. It's stochastic hill climbing happening within us while we're alive. This would make it very difficult to target a specific gene to edit without having a wide blast radius. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V(D)J_recombination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V(D)J_recombination
- beagle3 4y ago
  We do have a blunt B-cell reset tool though. Rituximab has been in use for two decades now, and recently there are newer drugs based on the same idea that are even more human-compatible.

echelon 4y ago

Unfortunately the system of learning, fine tuning, and amplification that the body uses can learn things incorrectly. Viral particles can not only be picked up as antigen, but they can also serve as adjuvant to aid the immune system in learning the wrong thing. Auto-immune reactions are pretty rare. Central and peripheral tolerance are supposed to delete any cells that are close enough to matching against self. Developing allergies (eg. pollen, dog, etc.) can happen this way [1], and there is less mechanism to prevent it. [1] https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/19/2/341 https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/19/2/341