Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 12
called CRISPR to rewrite the DNA of a
baby with a rare gene琀椀c illness, e昀昀ec琀椀vely
correc琀椀ng the error that was making him
sick. It was the 昀椀rst 琀椀me in the world
this was done successfully, and it gives
a glimpse of how we might treat or even
cure gene琀椀c diseases in the future. Closer
to home, Australian scien琀椀sts are hard
at work in this 昀椀eld too. A team at the
University of Sydney recently developed
a gene edi琀椀ng tool that is even more
precise and 昀氀exible than standard CRISPR,
aiming to make gene琀椀c tweaks safer and
more e昀昀ec琀椀ve. In plain terms, think of
gene琀椀c edi琀椀ng as 昀椀xing a single typo in a
3-billion-le琀琀er instruc琀椀on manual for the
body. By ge琀�ng that one le琀琀er right, we
could prevent certain illnesses from ever
happening. While we won’t all be edi琀椀ng
our own genes any 琀椀me soon (and there
are ethical considera琀椀ons to sort out), the
progress in this area is exci琀椀ng. It suggests
that tomorrow’s medicine might include
treatments that permanently eliminate a
health problem at its root cause, rather
than just managing symptoms. For the
average person, that could mean a future
where condi琀椀ons like hereditary heart
disease or certain cancers are no longer
a life sentence, thanks to one-琀椀me
gene琀椀c 昀椀xes.
BRAIN–COMPUTER INTERFACES:
Mind Over Matter
Among the most jaw-dropping innova琀椀ons
are brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) –
devices that connect our brains directly
with computers or machines. It sounds
unbelievable, but in 2024 a pa琀椀ent with
paralysis was able to control a computer
cursor just by thinking, thanks to a 琀椀ny
brain implant developed by Elon Musk’s
Neuralink. And that’s not the only case.
An Australian start-up called Synchron
(founded in Melbourne) has achieved
a world-昀椀rst by linking a pa琀椀ent’s brain
signals to Amazon’s Alexa assistant,
allowing him to turn on lights, make calls
and play music using only his thoughts.
For people with spinal injuries or motor
neurone disease, this technology is lifechanging – imagine being able to text your
loved ones or operate your TV without
moving a muscle. Essen琀椀ally, BCIs pick up
the electrical whispers of your neurons
and translate them into commands for a
computer. At the moment, these systems
are being used primarily to help folks who
have lost abili琀椀es (truly giving them a new
way to thrive), but the implica琀椀ons go
further. In the future, we might see BCIs
helping everyday people to interact with
