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Harvard aims to use CRISPR gene editing to eliminate ApoE4 variant, to reduce Alzheimer's risk. My worry: ApoE4 already spread to 14% of white population, so it can't just be a harmful mutation -- must have had hidden benefits that gene-editing could lose.https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612494/despite-crispr-baby-controversy-harvard-university-will-begin-gene-editing-sperm/ …
For more on the logic of why high-frequency alleles have probably had hidden benefits, see my paper here (Keller & Miller, 2006): https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58e2a71bf7e0ab3ba886cea3/t/58ebee5e5016e1a6e81f6693/1491856998877/2006+genetics+mental+illness.pdf …
PS There's a myth that 'prehistoric life was short', so diseases of old age like Alzheimer's wouldn't have mattered. But our life-history traits show that many ancestors lived into their 70s, and were important in grand-parenting & tribal leadership:https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/life-expectancy-myth-and-why-many-ancient-humans-lived-long-077889 …
Messing with genes seems like a bad idea to me when we know so little about what they do in concert with each other.
This is why I think embryo selection using polygenic scores (across thousands of genetic variants) will give better results than editing individual genetic loci like ApoE.
Fascinating. Hadn't heard about it. But makes sense. I think many 'genetic diseases' may turn out to be genetic susceptibilities to infectious diseases that aren't yet recognized -- and curing the infection may be the best way towards a cure.
So is there a significantly higher occurrence of Alzheimer's among people with that gene?
Yes, ApoE4 predicts significantly higher Alzheimer's risk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolipoprotein_E …
I think this 'prehistoric life was short' idea is an urban myth. If most people died by 35, we would have evolved to hit puberty around age 6. Many ancestors lived into their 70s, the research says:https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/life-expectancy-myth-and-why-many-ancient-humans-lived-long-077889 …
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