SO virus DNA or gold could be permanently left in the brain.  That this is aimed for the “genetic disorder, Fragile X” (2%-3% of all cases of asd), but then below it seems to include ALL of the autism spectrum. Plus, it’s not “the solution” yet it could be permanent. Sounds confusing!

■ Autism patients also tend to engage in repetitive behavior, like rocking back and forth and flapping their arms. The study suggests that these behaviors could be remedied through gene editing. These results could also open the door for further research on how to alter genes related to the other autism traits, said Lee. “I really want to give hope for patients and families. It is such a social burden on them ……. 

I must say that sounds offensive to me.  I am not looking to help my daughter because she is a SOCIAL BURDEN.  Megan has behaviors related to antibodies that will not let her brain rest.  LIke most with an asd diagnosis, the gut bacteria are too pathogenic with beneficial bacteria lacking. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5408485/ She has OCD and tics with her gut and immune system as the source, and it can be exhausting.  She can have physical pain. She has immune dysfunction.  She is nonverbal. She has sensory overload.  She has had severe seizures. Diet, probiotics and supplements aimed at her immune system can help. Research is showing that immune treatments, like high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin  are proving to be very effective for autism. That makes sense and we need these asap to help so many very ill asd patients, but editing their brains ------ sounds like a sci-fi experiment.

■ People with autism demonstrate repetitive behaviors and impaired habit learning. Yet the neural circuits underlying these behaviors remain unclear. The dorsolateral striatum is a region of the brain that has been implicated in habit formation and repetitive behavior. Nevertheless, the link between dysfunction of this structure and autism-related repetitive behavior remains elusive. The striatum, the major input structure of the basal ganglia area of the brain,...........

■ Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms such as tics, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and other symptoms characteristic of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS). Abnormal anti-neuronal autoantibody responses against the basal ganglia are elevated in neuropsychiatric disorders such as PANDAS. Our study suggests that anti-neuronal autoantibodies in ASD may be associated with the presence of PANDAS and investigates microbial polysaccharides as potential inducers of anti-neuronal autoantibodies in children with confirmed ASD or ASD/PANDAS.

■ The development of efficient and reliable ways to make precise, targeted changes https://www.neb.com/tools-and-resources/feature-articles/crispr-cas9-and-targeted-genome-editing-a-new-era-in-molecular-biology  to the genome of living cells is a long-standing goal for biomedical researchers. Recently, a new tool based on a bacterial CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease (Cas9) from Streptococcus pyogenes has generated considerable excitement…….

Wow.  The last thing any of these children and young adults need entering their bodies are pathogenic BACTERIA or VIRUSES.

■  Many of the proposed applications involve editing the genomes of somatic (non-reproductive) cells, but there has been interest in and debate about the potential to edit reproductive cells. However, any changes made in these cells will be passed on from generation to generation and, as such, have important ethical implications. ...CRISPRCas9 procedures on reproductive cells during early stages of pregnancy could be passed on to subsequent generations with unanticipated consequences…...

“Editing reproductive cells” sounds reminiscent of this:

http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/eugenics/exhibit4-4/

■  Human trials are expected to get underway in Western Countries this year, and China has been experimenting with CRISPR-Cas9 for a while. Now, however, a new study by Stanford University researchers has found that a high percentage of people may contain immune responses that could prevent CRISPR-Cas9’s from working, or even be dangerous.

The study analyzed blood for antibodies to two bacteria from which Cas9 is derived: Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. The researchers’ concern stemmed from the fact that these bacteria frequently cause infections in humans…..Of more serious concern is that the researchers also found T-cells that could attack cells producing Cas9 proteins in six out of 13 donors, because “The existence of the pre-existing cellular immunity would likely both limit the effectiveness of and create safety concerns for Cas9-based genome editing.

Stanford’s finding definitely puts a bit of a cloud over the future of CRISPR-Cas9

As we can see, it’s very important to do RESEARCH on the research.  Editing genes now or erasing them for future generations seems to have numerous negatives.  My daughter has an autism diagnosis that is related to her autoimmune diagnosis.  We are learning more and more about the gut-brain connection in autism  . Cutting and pasting DNA seems to be an expensive, money-maker with much danger associated to it.  Who is this really helping? Our children deserve better.