How patients are likely to respond to DNA drugs
By using virus genomics (genetic material), big data analysis and coding, the experts have devised a technique for predicting how patients are likely to respond to treatments that directly target mutated genes, without even coming into contact with the patient. The method has direct application on DNA-based drugs currently on the market, 32 drugs in clinical trials, as well as future therapies such as genome editing. The researchers achieved this by using a culture of human liver cancer cells that contain a non-infectious version of the Hep C virus, and drugs that treat Hep C by cutting and destroying its genome. As the Hep C virus is not good at copying its genome, it creates tens of billions of variants of itself in these cells: this is similar to the genetic variation which could be found in the wider population. The experts then tested the drugs on the cultures, and examined the impact of each of these drugs on each individual variant of Hep C, to determine which drugs work o...