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CRISPR-based treatment can restore retinal function in mice with eye disease

Researchers from Columbia University have developed a new technique for the powerful gene editing tool CRISPR to restore retinal function in mice afflicted by a degenerative retinal disease, retinitis pigmentosa.

11 May 2018

Scientists use CRISPR tool to make multiple edits to DNA samples 'in vitro'

Scientists at Christiana Care Health System's Gene Editing Institute have developed a potentially breakthrough CRISPR gene-editing tool. It could allow researchers to take fragments of DNA extracted from human cells, put them into a test tube, and quickly and precisely engineer multiple changes to the genetic code, according to a new study published today in the CRISPR Journal.

20 Apr 2018

CRISPR enzyme can also cleave RNA, finds study

Researchers have discovered that the Cas-9 enzyme used in CRISPR gene editing can also cleave complimentary messenger RNA, in addition to DNA.

2 Mar 2018

Gene editing tool used to detect cancer

Researchers have developed a DNA detection system that can detect the presence of bacterial and viral DNA, which could be a valuable diagnostic tool for a range of disorders.

16 Feb 2018

New microcapsules represent promising vectors for application of genome-editing tools

Researchers from Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from St. Petersburg, Hamburg and London have conducted a study in the course of which it was found out that polymer and hybrid silica-coated microcapsules are more efficient in genome-editing when applying CRISPR-Cas9 system.

6 Oct 2017

Study shows new method for repairing disease-causing mutation in human embryos

Scientists have demonstrated an effective way of using a gene-editing tool to correct a disease-causing gene mutation in human embryos and stop it from passing to future generations.

3 Aug 2017

Expert highlights CRISPR’s applications, limitations, and ethical concerns

"Good morning, doctor, I am here for my gene editing appointment." In the future, could this be a greeting heard in physician offices around the world? With the introduction of CRISPR technology, genetic material can now be more easily and precisely edited, even creating changes that can subsequently be inherited by offspring.

1 Aug 2017

Researchers use gene-editing technique to develop new screening tool for Parkinson's disease

A team of researchers at the University of Central Florida is using breakthrough gene-editing technology to develop a new screening tool for Parkinson's disease, a debilitating degenerative disorder of the nervous system.

5 Jun 2017

Researchers use gene-editing tool to restore visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa

Using the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego Health, with colleagues in China, have reprogrammed mutated rod photoreceptors to become functioning cone photoreceptors, reversing cellular degeneration and restoring visual function in two mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa.

21 Apr 2017

TSRI researchers reveal how viruses incapacitate bacterial defense system

Picture bacteria and viruses locked in an arms race. For many bacteria, one line of defense against viral infection is a sophisticated RNA-guided "immune system" called CRISPR-Cas.

28 Mar 2017

Study findings could lead to novel therapies for preventing vision loss from degenerative retinal diseases

Silencing a gene called Nrl in mice prevents the loss of cells from degenerative diseases of the retina, according to a new study.

15 Mar 2017

Researchers uncover first ‘off-switches’ for better control of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing

CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing is quickly revolutionizing biomedical research, but the new technology is not yet exact. The technique can inadvertently make excessive or unwanted changes in the genome and create off-target mutations, limiting safety and efficacy in therapeutic applications.

9 Dec 2016

RVFV uses cancer pathway to hijack host cell and cause infection

Viruses can't live without us -- literally. As obligate parasites, viruses need a host cell to survive and grow. Scientists are exploiting this characteristic by developing therapeutics that close off pathways necessary for viral infection, essentially stopping pathogens in their tracks.

17 Jun 2016

Novel method could help analyze GWAS results for sporadic diseases

Using a novel method, Whitehead Institute researchers have determined how a non-coding mutation identified in genome-wide association studies can contribute to sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). The approach could be used to analyze GWAS results for other sporadic diseases with genetic causes, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and cancer.

21 Apr 2016

New approach could be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Scientists at the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA have developed a new approach that could eventually be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

14 Feb 2016

New technique improves accuracy of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system

A new CRISPR/Cas9 technology developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School is precise enough to surgically edit DNA at nearly any genomic location, while avoiding potentially harmful off-target changes typically seen in standard CRISPR gene editing techniques.

19 Nov 2015

Set of genes identified in human genome essential for survival, proliferation of human cell lines

Using two complementary analytical approaches, scientists at Whitehead Institute and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have for the first time identified the universe of genes in the human genome essential for the survival and proliferation of human cell lines or cultured human cells.

16 Oct 2015

University of Helsinki researchers develop new method for controlling the activation of genes in a cell

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, have developed a new method which enables the activation of genes in a cell without changing the genome. Applications of the method include directing the differentiation of stem cells.

9 Sep 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

New approach could help identify novel drug targets to combat lethal fungal infections

By modifying the CRISPR-Cas genome editing system, Whitehead Institute researchers are now able to manipulate Candida albicans' genome systematically--an approach that could help identify novel targets for therapies against this serious pathogen for which there are a limited number of anti-fungal agents.

6 Apr 2015