Your missing links are here (2 October 2020)

Top Picks

• Researchers at Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California have used CRISPR-Cas9 to develop a gene drive system that can target sequences necessary for replication of wild-type human herpesvirus 5 (cytomegalovirus) and potentially suppress viral infection.
• Truncated guide RNAs Protect Off-Target Sites from CRISPR-Cas9 Editing. Read about how ‘dead’ or ‘guard’ RNAs can make CRISPR safer and more efficient in our interview with Douglas Fowler from University of Washington.

Research

• CRISPR screens have been used to identify the transcription factors that control human regulatory T cells under basal and proinflammatory conditions. These transcription factors might be future targets for immunotherapies.

Clinical Trials

• An international team of researchers are preparing Phase 1 clinical trials of a cutaneous vaccine against the parasite that causes leishmaniasis. The vaccine employs a strain of the parasite that has been attenuated by CRISPR mutagenesis and the research was published this summer.
• A Fast Track Designation for gene therapy treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU) has been granted by FDA to BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

Industry

• Michael Arciero has been appointed Vice-President of Intellectual Property and Commercial Development at ERS Genomics that licenses intellectual property held by Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier.
• The Covid-19 pandemic and the accompanying race for new drugs is the main cause for an expected 21 % annual growth rate in the global CRISPR technology market. According to a new market report from The Business Research Company, the CRISPR market is expected to reach $1.55 billion in 2023.

COVID-19

• Distinct viral entry factors from different coronaviruses - including those causing common cold and Covid-19 - have been identified using parallel genome-wide CRISPR screens on virus infected.
• Using genome-wide CRISPR-based genetic screens in human cells, researchers in Belgium have identified a proviral host factor for Sars-CoV-2 that might be a novel drug target against Covid-19.
• Susceptibility to Covid-19 might be influenced by genetic variants of the FURIN gene that encodes a protein critical for viral infection. That was concluded from a study where CRISPR was used to introduce genetic variation.

Conferences and Webinars

• Lund University, Sweden is organising a physical and online symposium: New genome editing technologies for medicine and agriculture – implications for the society. The symposium aims to present scientific breakthroughs and their implications for research and the public. It takes place 13 October 2020 at 09.00-17.00.