When superstar cardiologist Dr. Sekar Kathiresan cataloged genes associated with coronary artery disease, he found nearly 60: some that decimate blood levels of LDL (“bad cholesterol”) and therefore protect against heart attacks, some that cause inflammation of arteries and so raise the risk of heart attacks, and scores more with effects on triglycerides, blood vessels, and other risk factors.

While existing drugs mostly operate far downstream of the genes, Kathiresan thought therapies operating at the level of DNA would let cardiologists “reimagine how we treat coronary artery disease, permanently protecting against it,” he said.