Imagine a future where, based on a diagnostic in your teens, your doctor gives you a customized infusion with a top-up every 5 to 10 years that “dials down” your genetic risk factors for all kinds of diseases WITHOUT making permanent changes to your DNA.

Welcome to the world of epigenetic editing, a frontier that will unlock a new universe of gene therapies that are both potent and reversible.

My guest today is Dr Ben Oakes, Co-founder, President and CEO of Scribe Therapeutics, a company that’s focused on designing and applying CRISPR-derived tools that, not only edit genes directly and permanently, but also control and fine tune the conditions that decide whether a gene is turned on or off.

How does epigenetic editing work? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What are the current and future disease targets? If we think about the long-term future of medicine and healthcare, what might be possible? I asked Ben these questions and more. In a fascinating exploration, he discusses the journey to effective interventions, and why multipurpose genetic editing tools will revolutionize the future of medicine.

And it’s NOT far off. While complexity challenges are high, this is an active and vibrant field with many players and many pathways forward. The science is moving fast. We’ve come a long way with DNA editing in 12 years; I expect FDA-approved epigenetic therapies will transform the lives of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in 10-15 years. Ultimately, therapies that target multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease have the potential to help billions.

You’ve been hearing a lot lately about gene therapies based on editing DNA. Now hear about the ‘next-level’ in gene therapies.

The future of medicine is truly an amazing place!

And as always, you'll find my personal takeaways, links to some of my related blog posts so you can take a deeper dive, and a full transcript of our conversation on the FutureBites page, where you can also learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.