This is

is Scientific American 60 Second Science.

I'm Christopher Intagiyata.

Your genome is sort of like a library,

with each gene an instruction manual for making proteins.

The bad news is you can't return a book

and take out a new edition, but the technique of gene therapy allows you to revise your

copy of the book so to speak, giving you the ability, potentially, to make new and different proteins.

Now scientists have experimented with a new way to make text revisions by inhaling the changes.

They tested the concept by having mice breathe in genetic material called messenger RNA or MRNA. For the test, the

MRNA included instructions to manufacture Luciferase, the stuff that lights up in fireflies.

The researchers packaged the MRNA with a degradable polymer to trick the mice's lung cells

into accepting the package, and once the cells gobbled it up, they began to glow,

proving that inhaling MRNA is an effective way to kick-start the production of new and novel proteins,

like the firefly enzyme.

The scientists also repeated the experiment in mice whose cells had been genetically

engineered to turn permanently red if they received a copy of MRNA, making it possible to count the proportion of cells affected by a dose.

The proof of concept is in the journal Advanced Materials.

Of course, the point of all this isn't to make mice glow.

Instead, one idea is to use this technique to help cystic fibrosis patients.

Because people with CF have a genetic mutation that causes a buildup of sticky mucous in their lungs. Several of the study authors that phase one and two trials to determine if inhaling messenger RNA could provide a genetic fix

for cystic fibrosis.

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