New DNA modifying drug

[AJC - Australia]

Not sure what to think?

http://www.dddmag.com/news/2014/04/celgene-snags-new-crohns-disease-drug

With all that money they are talking about, it seems it is just another drug you will have to take for the rest of your life…

With Crohns making approx $3 BILLION per annum, finding a cure is going to be a GIANT battle against the corporates who are profiting.

 

[valleysangel92]

Hmm I don't know, it doesn't say enough about the results of the trial for my liking, or about how the drug actually works, or what the side effects are, so its too soon to be able to tell if its going to actually be useful to many of us. Its something to keep watching though. Thankyou for sharing.

 

[Jabo]

I am pretty good at reading journal articles and understanding them even though I didn't get past highschool biology. hahaha. still...... I have no idea what this is saying. A pill that changes your DNA? I didn't think that was possible. Maybe the epigenome.

 

[Orchid]

A medication that changes genetic expression, there is a world of difference. Some drugs can lead to changes in genetic expression, such as Doxycycline. They're not really "modifying DNA" so much as "deciding what becomes active".

 

[Jabo]

okay, I can easily see how a drug can turn a gene off or on. So this is the case here? They are trying to turn off/on a gene that wasn't working correctly?

 

[Orchid]

It says right there in the article, it targets SMAD7. A sequence that codes for proteins involved in the inflammatory response.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Whatever the outcome, I'm happy to see new approaches being explored.

 

[shamrock15]

If there's enough money in it, someone will make it. It would be nice if a little altruism crept into pharmaceutical companies.