Researchers in Spain target fusion oncogenes in cancer cells with CRISPR-Cas9. Targeting these tumour-specific genes is an attractive approach to tackling cancer, and the researchers show proof-of-concept for this strategy in mice that developed tumours following injection with a human Ewing sarcoma cell line.
Efficient and safe delivery of gene-editing cargo is a challenge in the development of CRISPR-based therapeutics. Viral methods are the gold standard but non-viral methods are gaining traction as an alternative. This discussion piece looks at the pros and cons of each approach and provides insights based on recent findings.
Danish company Samplix launches new quality control service for validation of CRISPR samples. Using its proprietary genomic enrichment technology XdropTM followed by next sequencing, the company is able to reconstruct any structural rearrangements, SNPs or other unintended modifications that result from editing with CRISPR-Cas technology.
COVID-19
A consortium of researchers in the US reports an amplification-free CRISPR-Cas13a-based mobile phone assay for direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 in 5 minutes from nasal swab RNA extracts. Authors claim the assay “can provide rapid, low-cost, point-of-care screening to aid in the control of SARS-CoV-2” and share their results on the preprint server medRxiv.
Feng Zhang’s Lab at the Broad Institute describe a simple test for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The new test, STOP, or Sherlock testing in one pot, combines a simplified magnetic-bead RNA isolation protocol with isothermal amplification and CRISPR-Cas12a-mediated detection. The team could run the assay at a single temperature in less than 1 hour and with minimal equipment with increased sensitivity over the CDC’s gold-standard RT-PCR test. Read the findings in the New England Journal of Medicine here.
Opinion piece about CRISPR in The New York Times: “This Year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry Honors a Revolution” by Walter Isaacson, author of the forthcoming “The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race.”