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RNA-based drugs provide many advantages over CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system

In just the past few years, researchers have found a way to use a naturally occurring bacterial system known as CRISPR/Cas9 to inactivate or correct specific genes in any organism. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing activity runs continuously, though, leading to risk of additional editing at unwanted sites. Now, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Ludwig Cancer Research and Isis Pharmaceuticals demonstrate a commercially feasible way to use RNA to turn the CRISPR-Cas9 system on and off as desired -- permanently editing a gene, but only temporarily activating CRISPR-Cas9.

17 Nov 2015

IDT’s innovative Alt-R CRISPR-Cas9 System improves genome editing potency, reduces cell toxicity

Integrated DNA Technologies, introduces a new approach to CRISPR—its innovative Alt-R CRISPR-Cas9 System, based on the naturally occurring S. pyogenes CRISPR RNA system.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 29 Oct 2015

Researchers develop multiplexed screening approach to study cancer development in mice

In a novel use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which can be deployed to switch genes off, researchers from Germany, the UK and Spain have developed a multiplexed screening approach to study and model cancer development in mice. The scientists mutated genes in the adult mouse liver uncovering their cancer-causing roles and determining which combinations of genes cooperate to cause liver cancer.

27 Oct 2015

DNA study reveals basic principle of gene regulation

A study of where and how an enzyme cuts DNA may have inadvertently revealed a basic principle of gene regulation, say researchers in Boston Children's Hospital's Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (PCMM).

23 Oct 2015

New RNA tools for CRISPR/Cas9

Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) will host an informative webinar, entitled ‘New RNA Tools for Optimized CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing’, on Wednesday, October 7, 2015. Ashley Jacobi, a scientist in the Molecular Genetics Applied Research Group at IDT, and an expert in the application of synthetic nucleic acids, will present the webinar at 9 am and 1 pm Central Standard Time.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 1 Oct 2015

Scientists identify different CRISPR system with potential to advance genetic engineering

A team including the scientist who first harnessed the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 system for mammalian genome editing has now identified a different CRISPR system with the potential for even simpler and more precise genome engineering.

26 Sep 2015

Study uses genome- and epigenome-editing tools to determine disease-causing variants

A paper receiving advance online release in Nature Medicine describes a strategy for meeting one of today's most significant challenges in genomic medicine - determining whether a specific DNA variant in the non-protein-coding genome is the actual disease-causing variant of an associated disease risk.

24 Sep 2015

CRISPR tool streamlines gene editing

Within the past few years, a new technology has made altering genes in plants and animals much easier than before. The tool, called CRISPR/Cas9 or just CRISPR, has spurred a flurry of research that could one day lead to hardier crops and livestock, as well as innovative biomedicines. But along with potential benefits, it raises red flags, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

10 Sep 2015

UCSF study reveals molecular timing mechanism of stem cells

UC San Francisco researchers have for the first time developed a method to precisely control embryonic stem cell differentiation with beams of light, enabling them to be transformed into neurons in response to a precise external cue.

27 Aug 2015

Researchers uncover genetic circuit involved in obesity

Like many other conditions, obesity is caused by an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. While efforts to combat the obesity epidemic will need to include changes in diet and exercise, insights into the genes involved may also help with prevention and treatment.

20 Aug 2015

Deerfield provides $20 million financing to Editas Medicine

Deerfield Management Company, L.P.'s venture capital fund, Deerfield Healthcare Innovations Fund, L.P., today announced its first therapeutics-based investment by participating, along with Deerfield Private Design Fund III, in providing financing to Editas Medicine. In total, Deerfield invested $20 million in this early-stage institutional financing.

10 Aug 2015

Researchers find way to reverse clotting factor deficiency that triggers hemophilia A

Sufferers of hemophilia live in a perpetual state of stress and anxiety: their joints wear down prematurely and they have bleeding episodes that feel like they will never end. Their bodies lack the ability to make the clotting factor responsible for the coagulation of blood so any cut or bruise can turn into an emergency without immediate treatment.

24 Jul 2015

Georgia researchers develop new tools to genetically manipulate parasite that causes cryptosporidiosis

Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed new tools to study and genetically manipulate cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis.

16 Jul 2015

Umeå University to present special Jubilee Award to Emmanuelle Charpentier at Annual Celebration Ceremony

Umeå University honours Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier for her pioneering research with the powerful discovery of CRISPR-Cas9, which has already been of great importance by providing new opportunities for Life Science research and its applications in Biology and Medicine. Umeå University will present a special Jubilee Award to Emmanuelle Charpentier

25 Jun 2015

Study opens new area of discovery for different aspects of cell biology, biomedical research

Every cell in the body uses phosphorylation, the process of adding a chemical tag to control a protein's function and fate, such as when it moves from one part of a cell to another or binds to other proteins.

19 Jun 2015

Researchers create cell lines to study gene expression in precursor brown fat and white fat cells

Since the 2009 discovery that energy-burning brown fat can be active in adults, research has raced ahead to understand this tissue and exploit it to treat the epidemic of obesity. Active brown fat also may assist in directly easing the burden of diabetes and related metabolic diseases by lowering the levels of glucose and fatty acids in the bloodstream. But progress in studying human brown fat often has been slowed by difficulties in obtaining and studying samples of the human cells that develop into brown fat.

17 Jun 2015

Electroporation technique brings higher efficiency, higher throughput genome engineering in animal models

Jackson Laboratory researchers have shown that using an electric current to deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 system, in order to engineer genetic changes in laboratory mice, is highly efficient and significantly improves the system's throughput.

9 Jun 2015

Sex-determining gene in mosquitoes may help reduce disease transmission

Researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech have identified a gene responsible for sex determination in mosquitoes that can transmit yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya viruses.

22 May 2015

NAS, NAM launch major initiative to guide decision making on human gene-editing research

The National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine are launching a major initiative to guide decision making about controversial new research involving human gene editing. Human gene-editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, may lead to promising new treatments for disease.

19 May 2015

ISSCR calls for moratorium on human germline genome editing attempts in clinical practice

In response to an article published by Chinese scientists describing research that used gene editing technologies in human embryos, the International Society for Stem Cell Research has again called for a moratorium on attempts at human clinical germline genome editing while extensive scientific analysis of the potential risks is conducted, along with broad public discussion of the societal and ethical implications.

27 Apr 2015