CRISPR is a precise gene-editing tool that has potential to treat diseases in humans and animals. Blogger Lynne Feifer of 365 Days of Baking helped Best Food Facts find out more about this technology and how it can be used.

“This is such a powerful, potent promising technology. We have so much at stake here in food and ag for animals and plants, agriculture, biotechnology, biofuels, medicine, the clinic translational medicine to cure disease and feed the world,” said Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou, whom Lynne interviewed at his lab at North Carolina State University.

One possible application for CRISPR is in treating sickle cell, an inherited disease. The disease affects 100,000 people in the United States and is most common among African-Americans. Dr. Nazia Tabassum is a pediatric specialist who treats sickle cell patients.

“Some of the patients come in for severe complications like severe pain crisis which requires IV narcotics and hydration. Some of these kids can also have severe sickling in their lungs which we call acute chest syndrome, which is a medical emergency,” she said.

Lynne had planned to interview Shakir Cannon, who had battled sickle cell disease his entire life and was a passionate advocate for CRISPR technology. However, he passed away in December 2017.

CRISPR also has potential to ease suffering and cure diseases among animals. Lynne talked to Erin Brenneman, a pig farmer in Iowa who said they are interested in how CRISPR might cure a disease called PRRS. “The acronym PRRS stands for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. It is the most economically and emotionally draining disease for all those raising pigs in North America, Europe and Asia,” Brenneman said.

She said pig farmers are excited about the potential for PRRS to cure the disease.

Check out the other videos in the series What is CRISPR? and How Can CRISPR Improve Food?

The post How Can CRISPR Treat Disease? Part 2 appeared first on Best Food Facts.

“Quinine is a very interesting compound that is long associated with foods and disease (malaria),” he said. “Quinine is a bitter compound extracted from the cinchona tree. Extracts from this tree have been used for malaria treatment for centuries. In fact, it is said that quinine is the first successful drug used to treat human infectious disease. Malaria parasites have become somewhat resistant to quinine, and better drugs have become available, yet it is sometimes still used today.”

The cinchona bark that contains quinine has a bitter taste. In the 1800s, British soldiers in India took a daily dose of quinine powder to prevent malaria. They dissolved the powder in water with a little sugar and soda to try to cover up the bitter flavor. Then, tonic water was bottled and shipped to tropical regions. To make the daily dose even more palatable, tonic water was mixed with alcohol and the iconic gin and tonic was born.

“Quinine today is used for its bittering properties in foods when a strong bitter component is desirable.  Quinine is approved for use in carbonated beverages as a flavor additive, not to exceed 83 parts per million,” Dr. O’Keefe said.

Is it safe to consume quinine in tonic water?

“Levels people are getting from food are quite minor,” he explained. “High levels of quinine as used in medicine have side effects, but levels used as a bittering flavoring in beverages are quite low. For example, somebody drinking 0.5L of tonic water containing 83 ppm quinine will get 41.5 mgs of quinine (base).  For malaria treatment, the CDC recommends 542 mg (as base) three times a day.  This represents a 40 times difference, for somebody drinking 0.5L of tonic water flavored with the maximum level of quinine.”

Quinine was once prescribed to treat leg cramps and was even available over the counter. However, the FDA banned over-the-counter sales and advises against using it to treat leg cramps because of potential side effects. Dr. O’Keefe pointed us to research that determined vitamin E is as effective as quinine for treating leg cramps with much less toxicity risk.

“Given that quinine use can be fatal at high levels – it seems some people are particularly sensitive – and tocopherol (vitamin E) is as effective and well tolerated for leg cramps, I’d recommend people look into tocopherol instead of quinine. Again, it seems some people are particularly sensitive to it,” he said.

Those who are very sensitive may want to avoid tonic water, while others may find drinking tonic water helps relieve leg cramps. Dr. O’Keefe shared his personal experience with quinine.

“It is one of the more interesting natural components added to foods and one I do not worry about. After I came home from a malaria-prone part of Africa, I drank gin and tonics for a month or so just in case. (although as noted above, levels in tonic water are low and it probably had no effect),” he said.

Tonic water contains quinine and the drink was originally developed to treat for malaria. Tonic water available today still contains quinine at safe levels that are well below levels to treat disease.

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