As an undergrad at UCSD in molecular biology, I looked at disease like Lesch-Nyhan that are due to an enzyme deficiency as treatable if we could just insert the missing genes into the cells. The arrival of the EcoR1 mutant of E. coli made gene insertion possible as a way to create a vat full of human insulin by just inserting the DNA sequence into the E. coli and letting it work. Our ability craft DNA sequences with CRISPR is more elegant today. Delivering the fragment wrapped in an adenovirus is more elegant too. Still, I'm not sure the vision I had of fixing Lesch-Nyhan with a gene insertion approach is possible and safe with current technology.
I left the field and pursued a career in EE/CS disciplines. It pays better and the labs don't smell as bad. Even better, you don't have some slob on the other side of the lab table slinging a human pathogen in your direction. That incident in grad school nearly cost my life.
Even better, you don't have some slob on the other side of the lab table slinging a human pathogen in your direction. That incident in grad school nearly cost my life.Wow, what a story! Was this deliberate? Was this person ever disciplined?
Glad you made it out of that all right.