It wasn't done at home. It was done in a lab by someone who majored in biology for the express purpose of finding a cure for his lactose intolerance.
It's been a bit since I watched the two videos* he made, so I don't remember the details. But it was the first time I ever felt anything positive about gene therapy. I'm too used to seeing people like me treated like Frankenstein's monster so people can do cool science and not care about the suffering of their human guinea pigs.
But most likely the short version is that he was only using this on himself. He didn't need to get FDA approval or do clinical trials.
That's an enormously frustrating process for the folks with incurable conditions who just tear their hair out over decisions to deny approval because something bad might happen down the road. We tend to feel like "Let me live long enough to have those problems, you ass!!!!"
But those processes exist for a reason. (Look up Thalidomide if you care to know how wrong things can go.)
Maybe someday there will be a readily available gene therapy for lactose intolerance. Maybe his work will be the starting point for it.
* He has made a lot more than two videos but there are two specifically about this gene therapy he administered to himself.
It's been a bit since I watched the two videos* he made, so I don't remember the details. But it was the first time I ever felt anything positive about gene therapy. I'm too used to seeing people like me treated like Frankenstein's monster so people can do cool science and not care about the suffering of their human guinea pigs.
But most likely the short version is that he was only using this on himself. He didn't need to get FDA approval or do clinical trials.
That's an enormously frustrating process for the folks with incurable conditions who just tear their hair out over decisions to deny approval because something bad might happen down the road. We tend to feel like "Let me live long enough to have those problems, you ass!!!!"
But those processes exist for a reason. (Look up Thalidomide if you care to know how wrong things can go.)
Maybe someday there will be a readily available gene therapy for lactose intolerance. Maybe his work will be the starting point for it.
* He has made a lot more than two videos but there are two specifically about this gene therapy he administered to himself.