How about popping a pill to keep you away from genetic diseases? Since this can be one of the easiest solutions therefore you would surely want to opt for it. Realizing this researchers are working on a pill which can correct a variety of faulty genes which is the reason behind crippling illnesses. The pill which is expected to be available within a time frame of three years can help in curing innumerable illnesses.
Dubbed as PTC124 it has shown encouraging results in the case of cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This pill would be working against a whopping one thousand eight hundred genetic diseases. This is how the pill works – a particular kind of mutation is targeted by this pill which results in different symptoms as per the gene disrupted and hence becomes potent against a variety of inherited disorders. This drug binds the portion of ribosome which translates genetic code into protein and hence a normal protein is produced as a result. This drug would be effective with any disease caused as a result of nonsense mutations. Human trials have produced positive results but the downside is that the pill will have to be taken for the rest of the life. This should not be an issue with those people who have been suffering a lot as a result of genetic diseases.
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Via: timesonline