Reducing Huntington’s-related repeat expansions in patient cells and in mice
4 comments
·May 27, 2025throwawayObvs27
I think lots of people would support a world in which it was illegal for Huntington's carriers to reproduce (or two people with recessive Huntington's alleles, whichever). That rule would stop an unimaginable amount of human suffering. But unfortunately that highly acceptable idea (I think) sits within a wider category that is extremely controversial, unpopular and dangerous.
People cannot be trusted to just outlaw Huntington's on its own, because the next politician will take power and outlaw some ethnic group they hate, arguing that there is precedence. Which is really annoying.
atiedebee
That is extremely unethical. Going off Wikipedia, most people with Huntington's start presenting symptoms from 30 to 50 years of age. Those are 30 years that they can live a normal fulfilling life. Prohibiting people from having kids because their children may or may not live a shorter life is, as you pointed out, a slippery slope.
chevman
What is the timeline/next steps to make this a usable therapy in humans?
Not familiar with state of the art techniques in this realm currently.
This century truly is amazing to witness as incurable diseases slowly become reasonably within reach to tackle. A huge step from widely established symptom treatment into reaching right to the source/root cause.