The US National Institute of Medical Research has given the green light for the clinical use of “molecular scissors” in anti-cancer therapy.
It is a world first. CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which makes it possible to edit a genome, can be used on humans. An advisory committee of the American National Institutes of Health (NIH), the equivalent of French Inserm, gave the green light on June 21 for a clinical test as part of a therapy against several types of cancer.
“The turmoil around CRISPR last year was an anticipation of what is happening now,” says Dean Anthony Lee, immunologist and member of the committee that decided to clear the technique for use. CRISPR makes genetic modification easy enough that such clinical trials can move forward quickly. “
Ensuring non-dangerousness
The first is of moderate size, and will mainly serve to ensure the non-dangerousness of the molecular scissors. Researchers will take T lymphocytes, cells of the immune system, from 18 patients and use CRISPR-Cas9 to insert or remove genes, which will allow these cells to better identify and destroy cancer cells. Once “boosted”, the T lymphocytes will be reinjected to their owners.
“Cellular cancer therapies show great promise, but the majority of people who benefit from them have relapsing-prone diseases,” said Edward Stadtmauer, trial director and physician at the University of Pennsylvania. Gene editing could improve treatments by eliminating certain vulnerabilities of the immune system to cancer. “
While the procedure sounds simple, it raises ethical questions: how much can the human genome be transformed? For the NIH committee, the situation seems clear, and does not pose any problems. However, he still has to convince the American authorities, who could still be a little cautious.
An embarrassing precedent
If the clinical trial is authorized, the manipulations will take place in Philadelphia (United States). “The University of Pennsylvania has a conflicting history [avec l’édition de génome] », Recalls Laurie Zoloth, bioethicist at Northwestern University (United States). In 1999, during a similar trial with other techniques, Jesse Gelsinger, an 18-year-old American boy died, putting a stop to this research. An investigation had indeed revealed several drifts: side effects observed in animals had not been reported, and some of the researchers had financial conflicts of interest related to the results of the trial.
In all likelihood, the US authorities should nevertheless validate the favorable opinion of the NIH, even if a ban is still possible. The manipulations could then begin at the end of this year.
The trial will be funded by an immunotherapy research fund brought together in April by former Facebook boss Sean Parker, which already has $ 250 million in its coffers, which should leave significant leeway. . Patients will be recruited from centers in California and Texas.
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