Labs the world over are jumping on the gene editing bandwagon. But one question keeps coming up: How precise are these systems? After all, a method that selectively mutates, deletes or swaps specific gene sequences is only as good as its accuracy.
Researchers in the laboratory of Frederick Alt have identified a relationship between sites of convergent gene transcription, the presence of intragenic super-enhancers, and the mis-targeting of the mutagenic activity of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID).
Harvard researchers genetically ‘edit’ human blood stem cells
To help find barriers associated with a cloning technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), Drs. Yi Zhang and Shogo Matoba generated mouse embryos through either SCNT or IVF and compared their gene expression profiles at the very early stages of development.
Roi Gazit, Pankaj Mandal and Derrick Rossi have engineered a hematopoietic stem cell specific reporter mouse that permits facile detection of rare blood forming stem cells based on single color fluorescence.
Without active DNA repair, damage beyond strand breaks could accumulate, giving rise to mutations leading to age-related blood disorders.
Michael Walch, Farokh Dotiwala and Judy Lieberman unveil a new role for killer cells in bacterial defense. In a recent Cell paper they show that granulysin, an antimicrobial protein present in the cytotoxic granules of human killer lymphocytes, delivers death-inducing granzymes into bacteria, where they rapidly kill bacteria and limit the spread of infection.
Induced hematopoietic stem cells, or iHSCs, bear characteristic features of natural HSCs, represent milestone in regenerative medicine
Ubiquitin doesn't just tag proteins for recycling. It also may help keep our antiviral immune response in balance.
A protein called Tet1 is partly responsible for giving primordial germ cells a clean epigenetic slate before developing into sperm and egg cells, according to a new study by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital.
When the drug Velcade® came on the market in 2003, it was seen as a godsend for patients with multiple myeloma, an intractable blood cancer that until then was uniformly fatal.
A team led by Dr. Qian Yin, a senior postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Hao Wu’s lab used structural and functional approaches to elucidate how an intricate interplay between p202, a critical checkpoint protein involved in autoimmunity, and a protein that monitors the cytoplasm for abnormal dsDNA (AIM2) may be involved in lupus pathogenesis.
Labs the world over are jumping on the gene editing bandwagon (and into the inevitable patent arguments). And it's hard to blame them. As these technologies have evolved over the last two decades starting with the zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), followed by transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and CRISPR—they've become ever more powerful and easier to use.
But one question keeps coming up: How precise are these systems? After all, a method that selectively mutates, deletes or swaps specific gene sequences (and now can even turn genes on) is only as good as its accuracy.
Algorithms can predict the likely "off-target" cuts for a given combination of target and technology, based on the target's DNA sequence. But they're based on limited data, and so can't make comprehensive predictions. "The algorithms… Read More »
Sun Hur Ph.D was awarded the 2015 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise were established in 2009 to encourage and support young immigrants who… Read More »
The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) announced today that Frederick Alt, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular… Read More »