Author: Evan Fleischer / Source: Big Think
Love dogs? So does science. Scientists can now edit the genes of dogs to relieve them of a particular type of muscular dystrophy.
Preliminary results of this here study published at the end of August in Science and conducted by individuals from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Exonics Therapeutics, and Royal Veterinary College, London suggest that it took merely eight weeks to restore the functionality of the protein dystrophin — dystrophin is a protein that helps ensure muscle fiber strength — in one-month-old beagle puppies impacted by the disease.
It’s worth bearing in mind that the sample size here is small: scientists observed four dogs for less than two months. Another caveat to keep in mind: while dystrophin may have been restored in the animal, there was little evidence that the animals regained control of their muscles, leading at least one scientists to speculate as to whether or not the lead scientist rushed to announce the result to draw potential investment to a company one of the scientists launched to help develop the treatment. (The lead scientist denies this, saying that these announced results were about seeking out proof of concept first.) And, nevertheless: the potential…
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