Get low (cholesterol’s version)
An experimental genetic treatment called VERVE-101 can deactivate a cholesterol-raising gene in people with hypercholesterolemia, Meghan Rosen reported in “Base editing can lower cholesterol” (SN: 1/27/24, p. 8).
Rosen wrote that researchers are testing to see what dosage of VERVE-101 is most effective. Given that the treatment edits a gene, reader Linda Ferrazzara wondered why the dose matters.
Too low a dose may mean that not enough VERVE-101 makes it to the liver, where it turns off the gene, Rosen says. If too few cells have the gene switched off, patients will not experience the drug’s cholesterol-lowering effects. If cholesterol levels remain high after an initial treatment, a second infusion of the drug may help, Rosen says. But the developers prefer for the treatment to be one dose.
Reader Jack Miller asked whether VERVE-101 affects germ cells, which give rise to sperm and egg cells.
In mice, scientists have found that most of the drug ends up in the liver, and none goes to the germ line, Rosen says. The offspring of treated mice are also unaffected by the drug. So if the children of treated patients also have hypercholesterolemia, those kids would still need their own treatment, she says.
AI etiquette
To develop better safeguards, scientists are studying how people have tricked AI chatbots into answering harmful questions that the AI have been trained to decline, such as how to build a dangerous weapon, Emily Conover reported in “Chatbots behaving badly” (SN: 1/27/24, p. 18).
Reader Linda Ferrazzara wondered if AI chatbots have been trained on languages other than English.
AI chatbots like ChatGPT are based on large language models, or LLMs, a type of generative AI typically trained on vast swaths of internet content. Many of the biggest, most capable LLMs right now are tailored to English speakers, Conover says. Although those LLMs have some ability to write in other languages,…
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