A Response to Rheumatoid Arthritis
By Madison Miederhoff
Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease in which the immune system attacks the synovium (joint lining) causing inflammation, joint stiffness, fatigue, and possibly bone deformation. The Washington University School Of Medicine in St. Louis is currently working on engineering cells to take anti-arthritis drugs to the location of the inflammation. While there are many different drugs a person can take to treat RA, having cells take the medication directly to the specific point of inflammation would be more effective and cause fewer side effects. The researchers are using CRISPR-Cas-9 genome editing technology to engineer these cells to bind to interleukin-1, a substance that increases inflammation in joints. The hope for this experiment is that the cells will stay in place for months and will only release the drug when activated by inflammation.
How will this impact the lives of people who deal with arthritis?
If you/a family member were to deal with RA, would you/they sign up for this clinical trial?
How can this advancement in genetic engineering be used in other fields of medicine?
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