Breakthrough: Scientists Develop A New Gene Silencing Technique To Edit Out Pain

More than 50 million American adults suffer from chronic pain and more than 19.6 million of them have high-impact chronic pain, reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Chronic pain is associated with numerous physical and mental health conditions. Not only does it cause restrictions in mobility and everyday activities but it also contributes to a loss in productivity and high healthcare costs.

There are several treatment options for chronic pain patients including oral medications such as acetaminophen, opioids, and anti-inflammatory drugs and certain topical therapies.

A new study has reported that gene therapy could be used to treat chronic pain by switching off certain parts of the system that transmits brain signals.

Experts from a start-up firm 'Navega Therapeutics,' San Diego has devised the treatment which will be approved in another five years, according to The Mail.

Previous studies conducted on mice models have successfully demonstrated that silencing a gene that transmits pain signals up the spine. Human trials are expected to be conducted by next year.

Chronic pain patients are usually prescribed opioid-based painkillers which can be addictive.

“By contrast, a major advantage of our approach is it’s not addictive,” Dailymail quotedNavega co-founder Fernando Aleman. “We are really excited because we have seen, in three different pain models, a decrease in overall pain.”

His team of experts at Navega are using a slightly different CRISPR technique known as ‘epigenome editing’ which silences the pain-causing gene rather than replacing it. Genes can be either activated or repressed without causing any permanent modifications. Thus they chose to repress the gene which has been found to be causing pain sensitivity among chronic pain patients.

In their research, they administered chemotherapy in mice models which causes pain in cancer patients. They opine that the main reason why cancer patients discontinue lifesaving chemotherapy is that it causes a lot of pain. The higher the dose of chemotherapy, the more likely are the chances of survival. But such higher doses might also increase the likelihood of chronic pain. Although they might be given morphine to mask their pain, it can sometimes lead to fatigue.

Thus, they believe that gene editing to suppress the pain gene called SCN9A could be used as an alternative to morphine and help them continue life-saving chemotherapy for a longer time.

Gene therapy helps treat patients by altering, removing or replacing a faulty gene or by adding a new gene. It holds promise in treating several diseases including cancer, diabetes, AIDS, heart diseases and cystic fibrosis.