Future Health - 1/3/23

Delivering care in the new virtual world…

“Drag-and-Drop” Gene Editing On The Horizon – The whole process of gene editing just got a bit easier with a recent announcement by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They developed a new gene editing technology that can “drag-and-drop” large DNA sequences into the human genome. And, to top it off, they named the new tool PASTE which was recently described in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Oy vey!! This new technology will clearly accelerate the ability to develop and deploy new gene therapy approaches for underlying genomic problems and diseases. It eliminates the problems of the first generation CRISPR technology that used a bacterial enzyme to remove specific DNA known to cause disease by markedly reducing the chance of misappropriated mutations along with the second, third and other subsequent generations!! There are still issues but the long and short is that gene editing is getting better and better.

Mental Health Moves To The Forefront – Insurance plans for employees are moving toward better support for employee mental health and well-being as a workforce strategy. Why? Because it’s tied to enhanced job satisfaction as well as better physical health – all resulting in lower costs. payment models. The healthcare trends for 2023 are outlined in a report from the Busines Group on Health.

Mega-Mergers Harming Health Care – Check Out Lawton Burn’s new book on the impact of “mega-mergers” on healthcare delivery across the nation. It’s concerning…