gene editing

Dissecting that Neanderthal brain organoids Science pub

neanderthal human brain organoids

Organoids and especially brain organoids, which are made from pluripotent stem cells, are one of the most interesting developmental biology technologies of the last half a dozen or so years. Still some folks can’t help but get carried away when thinking about brain organoids it seems. A new Science paper from a team led by …

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Weekly reads & paper of the week: gene-editing vs. aging

koblan et al 2020 nature gene editing progeria

The paper of the week reports using base-editing, a kind of gene-editing, to reverse mutations associated with rapid aging syndromes, generally called progeria, but there are a lot of other interesting pubs to recommend for reading this week. I go over it all in this post. Gene-editing to fight premature aging syndromes In vivo base …

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Can Gene-Edited Stem Cells Treat Cystic Fibrosis?

human-IPS-cells-made-in-Knoeplfer-lab-stained-for-TRA-160

Drugs that restore the shape of the errant protein behind cystic fibrosis (CF) have, over the past eight years, helped the majority of patients, who have certain mutations. Gene-corrected stem cells might offer a “mutation agnostic” option to CF. CF results from a glitch in a glycoprotein with the unwieldy name “cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance …

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Counterpoints to Lovell-Badge & Daley’s CRISPR baby rationales

CRISPR-baby

Two prominent scientists, Robin Lovell-Badge and George Daley, have been amongst the most outspoken proponents of leaving the door open to heritable human genetic modification via CRISPR. While they each have articulated their reasons in somewhat different ways at times, their core reasons arguing in favor of future heritable CRISPR appear largely the same. In …

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ViaCyte & CRISPR Therapeutics team up to battle diabetes

ViaCyte, cell therapy for diabetes

What happens when one of the most exciting stem cell biotechs ViaCyte teams up with a firm like CRISPR Therapeutics to use a combination of gene editing and cell therapy? Hopefully a synergistic partnership emerges that in this case can develop an effective stem cell-based therapy for diabetes. You can see a press release on …

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Poll: heritable CRISPR tried in humans in next 10 years?

CRISPR-baby

Heritable CRISPR to be tried in humans sooner or later…or never? Will someone somewhere in the world try to use CRISPR gene editing or related technology to introduce heritable genetic changes into actual human beings in the next decade? I’m not talking about gene editing viable human embryos just for research which is already ongoing, …

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Surprising reason why human cloning may produce someone else

Daisuke-Takakura-human-cloning

“If I’m going to the trouble of cloning myself, I want the clone to be a copy of me!” I’m imagining what someone might say if they were told that their expensive and ethically dubious personal cloning efforts produced a clone that was somebody else instead of them. Even if the clone was very similar …

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Highlights #FOGM18 Day 1: Data from Ancient Dirt, Genomics Dilemmas, CAR-T, & CRISPR

FOGM-venue-Scripps-Seaside-Forum

There are many genomics meetings out there these days, but The Future of Genomic Medicine meeting (#FOGM18) at Scripps in La Jolla is one of my favorites. This meeting is uniquely empowering. The people and the talks combine for a one-of-a-kind experience. The venue doesn’t hurt either at the Scripps Seaside Forum. The evening before the meeting …

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Keep calm & CRISPR on: perspectives on report of human Cas9 immunity

Keep-calm-CRISPR-on

The news that CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in its current form may not work in a substantial fraction of people due to many of us having immunity to Cas9 came as a shock to many, but if you think about it, maybe it’s not so surprising. I don’t see it as the end of the world. A (preprint) from …

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CRISPRcon guest post: Hope for a brighter future

Anna-Everette

By Anna Everette “In our society, we have an addiction to vertical genetic transmission. It’s called sex and having a child who looks like you”. This was perhaps the most memorable quote from the event’s keynote speaker, Greg Simon, Director of the Biden Cancer Initiative. It also happens to highlight the most compelling reason to …

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