06 / Reverse autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation

Why it matters

Autoimmune diseases are among the top 10 causes of death in women of all age groups. Around 5-8% of the population is affected by 80-100 different autoimmune diseases, like type 1 diabetes and lupus. When the immune system attacks the very tissue it is meant to protect, chronic diseases result. Current treatments are largely limited to suppressing the entire immune system, which lowers the body’s ability to fight off infections and other diseases, like cancer.

What if we could permanently reverse type 1 diabetes, enabling patients to cease daily insulin injections? What if we could develop precise tools that enable targeted regulation of the immune system? Researchers are exploring how iPSC and CRISPR/Cas9 can retrain T-cells to work in concert with other immune cells, delivering curative therapies. Novel metrics of inflammatory health could lead to personalized health interventions to improve health span.