Helen Hobbs

New Capabilities

Identified the human genetic evidence underpinning all PCSK9 drugs

For two decades, lowering LDL cholesterol meant statins—daily pills that work for most but leave roughly one in five patients with muscle pain or liver enzyme changes severe enough to quit. On May 1, researchers at the University of Barcelona and Oregon Health & Science University published results on a short, engineered DNA molecule that silences the gene controlling how the liver clears LDL, cutting cholesterol by nearly 50 percent in mice after a single injection.

Updated May 7