George Perry, PhD, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, discusses the current state of utilizing gene editing for the treatment of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Gene editing is useful when treating clear mutations – and may also be useful in editing mutations in amyloid precursor proteins in AD. However, due to the nature of sporadic AD, the genes which need editing are still unknown. There may be potential in changing gene expression in key proteins in sporadic AD, yet it is not fully understood what the outcomes would be. Furthermore, Dr Perry states that it is uncertain which genes need correcting and to what extent; there are many gene changes in AD, and correcting any of these genes could potentially cause more detrimental effects than positive. It is still early in the field of gene editing – therefore, advances are needed for it to be possible in the future. This interview took place during the 2022 World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy) meeting.
