OPERATING ON DNA IS MORE LIKE SURGERY THAN MEDICINE

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Last February, a team of doctors and scientists treated a baby with severe CPS1 deficiency, a condition caused by a rare single-gene mutation that causes patients' blood to be flooded with ammonia that the liver can't clear. The doctors sequenced the baby's DNA, designed a custom gene editor to fix the typo in his CPS1 gene, manufactured it on demand, and infused it into his bloodstream. The process took about six months and cost less than $1 million. Today, the baby is thriving and seemingly cured.