Université Hassan II: Omar Moustafa Hassan El Atal and His Insights #1

Hey there! My name is Omar Moustafa Hassan El Atal, and I'm an undergraduate biology student from Morocco. I'm very passionate about genetics, and I hope to pursue a career in biomedical research. In my free time, I enjoy reading, playing chess, and composing music.

Reviewed Article: CRISPR/Cas9 and iPSC-Based Therapeutic Approaches in Alzheimer’s Disease by Raffaele et al.

Main Argument & Findings:

Alzheimer’s is an incredibly complicated disease caused by many factors, and it has no cure yet. But scientists are exploring exciting ways to fight it using CRISPR and stem cells. CRISPR, a modern biology tool that scientists use to change DNA in a very precise way, works like a pair of tiny scissors that can cut out a bad gene or insert a healthy one. Stem cells are special cells that can grow into almost any type of cell, like brain cells.

Imagine this: scientists take a tiny sample of your skin or blood, turn it into brain cells in the lab, and then test medicines on them! By comparing brain cells with and without Alzheimer’s genes, researchers can fix the harmful DNA mutations and see which treatments actually work.

Of course, there are challenges. How do you safely get these “edited” cells into the brain? How do you make sure there are no side effects? CRISPR can sometimes make “off-target” edits in the DNA, which could be risky. Just like vaccines are tested carefully before they reach the public, gene therapies must be safe for everyone, and this careful testing could make personalized Alzheimer's treatments possible one day.

Importance for Youth:

As the next generation, we’ll inherit both these amazing tools and the responsibility to use them wisely. Being able to change genes and engineer brain cells is incredible, but it also raises some tough questions: Should we only edit cells in one person’s body (somatic editing), or is it ever acceptable to change genes that get passed down to future generations (germline editing)? Should gene editing only be used to treat disease, or could it also be used to enhance human traits?

Then there’s the issue of privacy: The brain cells made from your skin or blood carry all your genetic information, not just the parts linked to Alzheimer’s, and this can reveal things about your health and traits. How can we protect people's genetic data in order to prevent this?

By learning about these technologies and their ethical questions now, we can make informed choices and even contribute to breakthroughs that could one day help millions. Who knows? One day it might be someone reading this who helps unlock the cure for Alzheimer’s!

What I Learned: 

This article showed me how scientists study diseases in the lab and turn discoveries into better treatments. I also learned that while modern biology is becoming incredibly powerful, it also comes with serious responsibilities. Beyond discovery, science in the real world is also about safety, ethics, and fairness; if a therapy is developed using these technologies, it must be safe for patients and available to everyone, not just a few people.

Citations: Raffaele, I., Cipriano, G. L., Anchesi, I., Oddo, S., & Silvestro, S. (2025). CRISPR/Cas9 and iPSC-based therapeutic approaches in Alzheimer’s disease. Antioxidants, 14(7), 781. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14070781

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-moustafa-hassan-el-atal/