Your missing links are here (2 October 2020)

Some of the best stuff we picked up around the internet

By: Gorm Palmgren - Oct. 2, 2020

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.