The Impact of CRISPR-Cas9 on Age-related Disorders: From Pathology to Therapy
Allen Caobi, Rajib Dutta, Luis D. Garbinski, María Esteban-López, Yasemin Ceyhan, Mickensone Andre, Marko Manevski, Chet Raj Ojha, Jessica Lapierre, Sneham Tiwari, Tiyash Parira, Nazira El‐Hage
Abstract
With advances in medical technology, the number of people over the age of 60 is on the rise, and thus, increasing the prevalence of age-related pathologies within the aging population. Neurodegenerative disorders, cancers, metabolic and inflammatory diseases are some of the most prevalent age-related pathologies affecting the growing population. It is imperative that a new treatment to combat these pathologies be developed. Although, still in its infancy, the CRISPR-Cas9 system has become a potent gene-editing tool capable of correcting gene-mediated age-related pathology, and therefore ameliorating or eliminating disease symptoms. Deleting target genes using the CRISPR-Cas9 system or correcting for gene mutations may ameliorate many different neurodegenerative disorders detected in the aging population. Cancer cells targeted by the CRISPR-Cas9 system may result in an increased sensitivity to chemotherapeutics, lower proliferation, and higher cancer cell death. Finally, reducing gene targeting inflammatory molecules production through microRNA knockout holds promise as a therapeutic strategy for both arthritis and inflammation. Here we present a review based on how the expanding world of genome editing can be applied to disorders and diseases affecting the aging population.