20 good things that happened in 2017

2. Gene therapy treatments moved forward significantly

It can be easy to treat gene-based medical advancements as if they’re the opening salvo in a sci-fi horror tale. After all, don’t scientists know that messing with the human genome and its effects can produce previously unforeseen horrors dreamt only by Canadian director David Cronenberg?

However, it’s hopefully clear that such takes are little more than alarmism. No one is creating a mutated monster in their lab, as far as anyone can tell. Instead, they may have been making huge steps towards treating some forms of cancer.

That’s pretty big news, considering that approximately 38.5% of people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Cancer treatments can vary significantly, depending on the type of cancer and when it was first detected. That means a catchall “cure for cancer” is still unobtainable.

With that in mind, though, more specific treatments have gotten significantly better. Gene-based immunotherapy is especially promising. That’s what makes the FDA’s recent approval of gene therapy methods for leukemia very encouraging indeed.

The FDA also approved a groundbreaking gene therapy treatment for an inherited disease that causes childhood blindness. People born with a defective version of the RPE65 gene are unable to produce proteins that make the eye’s light receptors work. The treatment, called Luxturna, will use a harmless virus that can deliver good copies of RPE65 directly to the retina. Though Luxturna won’t be a miracle cure, it is expected to significantly improve someone’s eyesight.

While some have raised concerns about the cost (some speculate that it could cost as much as $1 million for both eyes), we can at least appreciate the scientific advances that have made this possible.