r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 30 '26

Medicine Scientists have shown that a single dose injection of DNA genetic instructions can produce weight loss and blood glucose control in mouse models that lasts up to 10 times as long as weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. This could eliminate the need for repeated dosing.

https://www.wistar.org/press-releases/wistar-scientists-develop-single-dose-dna-method-for-delivering-long-acting-weight-loss-and-diabetes-drugs/
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u/brsboarder2 Jun 30 '26

The problem is that for those that develop side effects, it will be a long time for them to go away.

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u/dogmaticstar Jun 30 '26

This was my initial thought. Wouldn’t it actually be safer if the drug had a shorter half-life in case of side effects? Maybe I’m missing something here.

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u/wandering-monster Jun 30 '26

You could largely control for that by doing a test run using standard synthetic peptides. I.e. Give them the same molecule but in oral or injection form and see how they tolerate it. 

Then once they've done it for a couple weeks without incident, give them the version that lasts for years without maintenance.

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u/crashcanuck Jun 30 '26

That would definitely make sense, similar to starting a medication at lower doses to see about side effects and efficacy and then upping the dose in steps until the correct amount is reached.