FACTS:
Libella Gene Therapeutics, a Kansas-based company whose clinical trial will be tested in Cartegena, Colombia, proclaims that they have invented an anti-aging remedy. The single gene edit, which is supposed to rebuild telomeres by activating a gene in their DNA that would normally be switched off, would prevent, delay, or even reverse the effects of aging, as well as treat diseases that emerge in old age, including Alzheimer’s. Participants for the trial must first pay a fee of $1 US million dollars. Therapies are slated to begin next month.
QUOTES:
Libella’s lead scientific officer, molecular biologist William Andrews:
“I can’t say [telomere shortening is] the only cause of aging, but it plays a role in humans,” … “may be the world’s first cure for Alzheimer’s disease.”
Leigh Turner, a bioethicist at the University of Minnesota:
“even though the company is based in the United States, they’ve managed to find a way to evade U.S. federal law by going to a jurisdiction where it’s easier to engage in this activity.”
SOURCE:
More information can be found at the Libella’s website here.
