Gene Editing News and Research

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Researchers create an integrated pipeline for performing genetic screening studies

Today's genetic engineers have a plethora of resources at their disposal: an ever-increasing number of massive datasets available online, highly precise gene editing tools like CRISPR, and cheap gene sequencing methods. But the proliferation of new technologies has not come with a clear roadmap to help researchers figure out which genes to target, which tools to use, and how to interpret their results. So, a team of scientists and engineers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School (HMS), and the MIT Media Lab decided to make one.

28 Sep 2021

Research reveals nucleolar RNA interference based on C. elegans as a model organism

A research group led by Prof. GUANG Shouhong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, collaborating with Prof. FENG Xuezhu from the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, revealed the nucleolar RNA interference based on Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model organism. The study was published in Nuclear Acids Research.

28 Sep 2021

Research explores the evolution and function of human growth hormone receptor gene

A new study delves into the evolution and function of the human growth hormone receptor gene and asks what forces in humanity's past may have driven changes to this vital piece of DNA.

25 Sep 2021

Discovery points toward a new strategy for treating Parkinson's disease

University of Utah Health scientists have identified a molecule that slows cells' production of alpha-synuclein, a protein that forms toxic aggregates in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease.

23 Sep 2021

Discovery points toward a new strategy for treating Parkinson’s disease

University of Utah Health scientists have identified a molecule that slows cells’ production of alpha-synuclein, a protein that forms toxic aggregates in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease.

21 Sep 2021

Temple research paves the way for first Phase 1/2 clinical trials of CRISPR-based therapy for HIV

For the last seven years, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University have been developing and refining CRISPR-based gene-editing technology for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) infection.

17 Sep 2021

Study provides the most detailed view of how ribosomes are assembled in human cells

All cells need ribosomes to make the proteins necessary for life. These multi-component molecular machines build complex proteins by stitching building blocks together according to instructions encoded in the cell's messenger RNAs.

16 Sep 2021

UC San Diego researchers receive $6 million NIH grant to study insulin-producing cells

Sequencing the human genome - a feat accomplished in 2003 - provided the list of ingredients that make up a human being, but not the instructions that explain how those ingredients are used by each cell type to create complex "meals."

9 Sep 2021

New gene-delivering workhorse could make gene therapy safer, more effective for muscle diseases

Genetic muscle diseases lead to progressive muscle wasting and often early death, with few treatment options and no cure.

9 Sep 2021

Researchers develop the smallest CRISPR to date for genome editing

A compact and efficient CRISPR-Cas system, named CasMINI, could be broadly useful for cell-engineering and gene-therapy applications because it is easier to deliver into cells. The findings appear in a study publishing September 3 in the journal Molecular Cell.

4 Sep 2021

Stanford researchers engineer an efficient, multi-purpose, mini CRISPR system

The common analogy for CRISPR gene editing is that it works like molecular scissors, cutting out select sections of DNA. Stanley Qi, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, likes that analogy, but he thinks it's time to reimagine CRISPR as a Swiss Army knife.

4 Sep 2021

Implanted cells deliver a biologic drug in response to inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis

With a goal of developing rheumatoid arthritis therapies with minimal side effects, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have genetically engineered cells that, when implanted in mice, will deliver a biologic drug in response to inflammation.

1 Sep 2021

New model shows how dysfunction in the air sacs initiates fibrotic cascade

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common and severe form of lung disease characterized by relentless scarring leading to death within an average of four years from the time of diagnosis.

31 Aug 2021

New research has implications for developing cancer therapies targeting mutant p53 protein

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is mutated in more than half of all human cancers. Several drugs that potentially can restore mutant p53 to its normal cancer-killing function are in clinical investigation.

31 Aug 2021

Stiffening of heart’s blood vessels associated with lack of enzyme that fosters cell ‘chatter’

In a study in mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have found that the smooth muscle cells lining the walls of blood vessels can lose their elasticity and lead to vascular stiffening, a condition that can precede heart disease and stroke.

26 Aug 2021

Researchers use gene editing to render male mosquitoes infertile and slow disease spread

Mosquitos spread viruses that cause potentially deadly diseases such as Zika, dengue fever and yellow fever. New U.S. Army-funded research uses gene editing to render certain male mosquitoes infertile and slow the spread of these diseases.

23 Aug 2021

Novel CRISPR-based technology for rapidly screening genes to understand human health and disease

Zebrafish- small, fast-growing creatures who share many of the same genes as humans- are instrumental to many biologists, who find them uniquely well suited for studying a wide range of questions, from how organisms develop to how the nervous system drives behavior.

20 Aug 2021

Scientists develop a new way to deliver molecular therapies to cells

Researchers from MIT, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have developed a new way to deliver molecular therapies to cells.

19 Aug 2021

Researchers receive $26.5 million NIH grant to pursue a new strategy for curing HIV

Over the last 40 years, HIV has shifted from a deadly and mysterious virus to one that can be controlled with daily drugs. But attempts to completely eliminate the virus from the bodies of people living with HIV, curing them for good, have failed.

17 Aug 2021

Mutated enzyme impairs communication between neurons and causes motor defects in SCA34 model

In one type of a rare, inherited genetic disorder that affects control of body movement, scientists have found a mutation in an enzyme that impairs communication between neurons and what should be the inherent ability to pick up our pace when we need to run, instead of walk, across the street.