TL;DR
Some people are born with a broken copy of a gene called PCSK9, and the lucky accident gives them low cholesterol and far less heart disease for life. A company, Scribe Therapeutics, says it can hand that same luck to anyone with a single dose: not by cutting DNA, but by sticking a chemical "off" tag on the gene so the liver quietly makes less of the protein that drives cholesterol up. In monkeys, one dose has held the gene turned down for at least 24 months and counting, with more than 90% of the protein silenced and LDL cholesterol down more than 50%. The first human trial is running now in Australia, and the first cholesterol numbers from people are expected in the first half of 2027. Those figures come from the company, relayed in a trade summary of its release, so they are a company account rather than a published paper. To see our odds on when a one-shot cholesterol switch reaches ordinary patients, and the timeline of breakthroughs that gets it there, subscribe.
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