Gene-Editing Tool May Soon Be Used on Humans to Create Blood Cells Which Attack Cancer

The gene-editing tool CRISPR may soon be used to create custom blood cells that attack cancer cells, which will be the first time that this controversial and cutting-edge method will be tested on human subjects.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania received approval from the National Institutes of Health, specifically from its Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

The gene-editing method creates designer immune cells (a.k.a. T-cells) that seek and destroy cancer, enabling them to seek out cancer more precisely while bolstering T-cells’ reproductive rates and capabilities.

CRISPR has previously been used in China to create tiny pigs and super-muscular dogs, but has yet to be trialed on cancer-ridden patients. Scientists have been cautioning against morally unrestrained and reckless uses of gene-editing, which can be used to create designer babies and may lead to Gattaca-like dystopias.

Rewriting T-cells and immune cells however, is very different from creating designer babies. A significant difference is that T-cell alterations are not passed down to offspring.

This project was bankrolled by Sean Parker, who attained fame for his involvement in Napster and Facebook. Parker’s Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy has donated $250 million to cancer research centers in what he is calling “the Manhattan Project for Cancer Research.”

What’s unique about his foundation is that it controls the patents on all the research generated by its funding and seeks to bring treatments to market. Parker compares his approach to Spotify, seeking to aggregate intellectual property so that it can be shared efficiently among the scientific community.