Scientists searching for new ways to stop Huntington’s disease (HD) have focused in on the repeating C-A-G letters of genetic code that cause the disease. That’s because the exact way these C-A-G letters repeat may have a big impact on when and whether someone develops HD. A group in Boston led by Dr. Jong-Min Lee recently applied a cutting-edge technology to try to change the letters of the C-A-G repeat in cells grown in a dish and mice that model HD. Were they successful? And what could this mean for future therapeutic approaches?
Three repeating letters – and an interruption to the repeat
The genetic code of every living organism is made up of 4 letters – C, A, G, and T. They’re combined in different ways to make every gene in our body, like letters on each page of a book. That’s a lot of diversity for just 4 letters!
HD is caused by a stretch of repeating C-A-G letters in the huntingtin gene – like three letters repeated on one specific page of the book. People who develop HD are born with 36 or more CAG repeats, one after the other at least 36 times, like this on the page: …CAG CAG CAG CAG CAG…