Search Results for: human embryo crispr

Recommended reads: click editing, CRISPR v. progeria, diapause transcriptional program

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click editing

Gene editing continues to advance both in the clinic trial arena and at more basic science levels including a report on a new approach called click editing. The two gene editing papers below highlight the variety of tools now available. Gene Editing papers including click editing Click editing enables programmable genome writing using DNA polymerases […]

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Recommended reads: CAR-T for Lupus, CRISPR vision, journal closures

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CAR-T for Lupus

Can researchers use CAR-T for lupus? It’s always exciting when one’s home institution has an interesting new therapy in development.  Here at UC Davis Health, there has been an increasing stream of such encouraging trials in the pipeline. I’ve written before about the promising trial of stem cells for spina bifida. Now there’s news related

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Weekly reads: new Sergiu Pasca pub, CRISPR chicken, human gene count update, stem cells in China

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Sergiu Pasca, assembloid

Most of us have heard of organoids but what about the related model called an “assembloid”, which is a term growing in use including from organoid researcher Sergiu Pasca of Stanford? Before we jump into that, be sure to enter The Niche stem cell image contest for your chance to win $100 or some swag.

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Weekly reads: CRISPR sickle cell, Parkinson’s, pig-human chimera concerns

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CRISPR gene editing

CRISPR gene editing has made rapid progress heading from bench to bedside. Perhaps the fastest has been its progress toward clinical use to combat sickle cell disease. We’ll start with a new paper on one major effort here. CRISPR gene editing. This process often involves cutting DNA, which then can be used as an opening to

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Weekly reads: gene therapy nod, Nature pub ethics, CRISPR LDL

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Multipotent & totipotent vs pluripotent stem cells, very early human embryos totipotent stem cells

Totipotency literally means all powerful, but it refers in biology to specific cells. These cells can make every type of cell in the body of an organism plus the extraembryonic tissues needed for development. This includes humans. So if you could reprogram human cells like blood or skin cells into totipotent stem cells, you might

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He Jiankui says he’s back in the lab after prison for CRISPR babies

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He Jiankui

Earlier this year Chinese researcher He Jiankui finished his prison sentence. When I saw that news I wondered about the next chapter for him. It seems he’s already back in the lab doing genetics research. At least that’s according to a blog by He Jiankui himself. Can we trust that what he has written on his website is

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‘We don’t want to freak people out’: about that Jacob Hanna human embryo model startup

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Jacob Hanna Renewal Bio

Stem cell biologist Jacob Hanna has a new startup called Renewal Bio. Its goal is to harvest cells or tissues from human embryo or fetus models for clinical use. I believe that their commercial ambitions have so far outstripped careful thought and discussion in the broader community of researchers. There are major risks here for

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Weekly reads: fibroblasts, gene-editing, Mitalipov, personhood, embryos

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NIH 3T3 fibroblasts ATCC

I have a soft spot for fibroblasts, perhaps because one of the first immortalized cell lines I ever grew was NIH3T3. These are mouse fibroblasts that have been immortalized. They are very useful for a variety of experiments. I used them to study an oncogene called E2A-PBX1. Experience with fibroblasts including 3T3s I was amazed

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Weekly reads: neural stem cells, CRISPR brain, Vertex, cytoplasm surprise

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neural stem cells

Some people consider the brain to be equivalent to a living computer and in that sense it’s too bad that computers don’t have the equal of neural stem cells to help them fix themselves. Is the internet one big neural network-like web? There was a quake in the stem cell internet as CIRM’s main website

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