When Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier revealed that the bacterial Crispr–Cas9 antiviral defence system could be reprogrammed to edit genomic DNA they could scarcely have imagined the impact their discovery would have. One Nobel prize and a decade later treatments based on the technique are racing towards the clinic. Read more in Chemistry World.
CRISPR
The CRISPR War Raging Inside Bacteria
Rings of DNA inside bacteria use CRISPR process to attack each other. The CRISPR-Cas system is a highly accurate gene-editing tool that genetic engineers have adopted from bacteria. The engineers use it to create genetically modified organisms and even treat genetic disease. But humans are not the first to adapt this system for their own […]
Genome editing in human embryos inches closer to the clinic
On Aug 2, Nature published a study in which US-based researchers successfully edited the genome of a human embryo using the CRISPR-Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated protein 9) system to correct a genetic defect implicated in a potentially fatal heart condition. Although this is not the first time CRISPR has been used for genome editing in […]
The big cull
Can New Zealand pull off an audacious plan to get rid of all invasive predators by 2050? Razza the rat nearly ended James Russell’s scientific career. Twelve years ago, as an ecology graduate student, Russell was releasing radio-collared rats on to small islands off the coast of New Zealand to study how the creatures take […]
Zinc-finger nucleases make the cut in HIV
Sangamo’s lead zinc-finger therapeutic supports the potential of gene-editing technology, but CRISPR-based gene-editing therapeutics are close behind. On 6 March, Sangamo BioSciences released the latest encouraging results for its potential anti-HIV therapy SB-728-T, a zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN) gene-editing drug. Phase I and II trials showed continued signs of safety and efficacy, it reported in the New […]