TV Review: Click – Gene therapy and AI screening

Gene therapy and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are helping scientists to make advances in drug development and screening.

BBC's 'CLICK' series consists of 43 episodes delving into the cutting edge technology shaping our lives today. This episode explores the use of gene therapy and AI technologies in vision and cancer research respectively.

The episode starts by introducing the Francis Crick institute, named after one of the main finders of the double helix, or, as stated in this episode, the 'shape of our DNA' and 'the shape of us'. This is followed by a seamless transition to the explanation of genes as 'short sections of DNA which carry information regarding characteristics, such as ear shape and eye colour'.

While this definition is likely to be accessible to an audience with limited scientific knowledge, as a researcher, I cannot help but find it to be oversimplified. I am concerned that the initial statement of DNA determining 'the shape of us' alongside the fact that characteristics picked out as examples pertain to looks, are somewhat suggestive that DNA only affects how we look.

The acknowledgement of the complex interaction of genes with the environment to affect who we are, what we look like, as well as our health is lost and may have provided an even more gripping start to the episode. Nevertheless, I must note that the episode is only twenty-five minutes long with many topics to cover!

The presenters, Lara Lewington and Spencer Kelly, then state that when genes 'go wrong' it can lead to genetic disorders or disease. While simplistic, this is generally correct and paves the way for the concept of gene therapy to be introduced to the episode. Gene therapy is described as a way of ‘fixing broken or faulty genes by 'turning them on and off'. This is concise and accessible and is likely to grip the audience into continuing to watch the episode.

The novelty of the work is highlighted by Dr Alexandria Forbes, the CEO of MeiraGTX. She explains that one of the major issues in gene therapy is regarding the delivery of these genes, and that over the last five to ten years, a method consisting of viral vectors has been developed to solve this issue.

While the general idea that vectors are a method of delivering the genes to specific parts of the body, I found that an explicit definition of what vectors, and indeed, viral vectors are to be lacking. Previous success stories of gene therapy, such as in severe combined immune deficiency disease, are also not mentioned (see BioNews 1095, 1118 and 1173).

Not only would this have helped to contextualise the research but is also likely to be of interest to a wider audience. Additionally, I would have liked to see some acknowledgement of other methods of gene therapy, such as bacterial vectors.

Dr Forbes continued to explain how a technology they have developed, which allows scientists to control how the genes delivered to the body are activated using pills, has the potential to treat numerous conditions, including retinitis pigmentosa, which is the focus of one of their six clinical trials (see BioNews 1103).

Scientists at Meira are also developing a gene therapy treatment for Parkinson's disease. Dr Forbes explained that in this instance one small dose of a very specific gene changes the neurotransmitters in one site of the brain. This allows the motor signals to re-circuit, which allows the patient to move normally.

This is a significant advance from current methods, where electrodes are inserted into the brain, and highlights the importance and promise of this work to the audience. This was particularly exciting to me, having seen the debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease throughout my engagement in care.

Finally, the episode introduced research from the world-leading cancer hospital Gustave Roussy, Paris, France. Here, teams are considering the ability of AI to predict the risk of breast cancer recurrence at five years. We learn the shocking statistic that one in eight women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. We are, however, not told what the breast cancer recurrence rate is, which I feel would have reiterated the importance of this technology. Furthermore, it is not clear whether future research will consider whether this technology may be useful for analysis of longer term recurrence.

Dr Barbara Pistilli, a medical oncologist at Gustave Roussy, explained that the AI gathers vast amounts of data ranging from tumour size and structure to oestrogen levels. At this stage I could not help but feel that this level of detail contrasts to that provided earlier on in the episode. However, with only a brief mention of the possibility of using this technology in kidney cancer, we are left to wonder about the wider applications of this technology to other types of cancer.

Overall, this was a fast-paced 25-minute episode covering many interesting topics, which in themselves could have warranted their own episode.