sent2null space

With recent news that yet another new method for performing in vivo gene editing has been discovered the landscape of possibilities looms beyond just the superficial. "Asian flush" is the term used to describe a condition that effects a large population of people of Asian descent which is a genetic mutation that prevents proper processing of one of the caustic by products of alcohol ingestion. This leads to an inflammatory response in the system which leads to dilated blood vessels and the "flushed" appearance. Aside from this superficial result it also means that generally Asians with this mutation need to be very careful with the amount of alcohol they are ingesting as they don't process it as efficiently as those without the mutation. Enter gene editing: The gene mutation is well known so this would be an ideal 'low hanging fruit' target for an edit. A targeted Asian Flush cure could be effected with a germ line edit or a temporary one co...

A  new paper   published this week describes another bacteria associated system for gene editing, the CrispR-Cpf1 system. As I've been covering this space for over a decade now and predicted in 2009 that gene editing would soon be a major innovation of the next 10 years you should be familiar with the progenitor systems discovered since that time. Zinc fingers, TALENS, AAV and CrispR-Cas9 via various articles of mine over the years. Cpf1 appears to have complementary functionality to Cas9 but performs some things that Cas9 does not, allowing it possibly to be more "specific" in its ability to accurately target edits. Some of these advantages are indicated in the paper but this article is more about the fact that find new systems should be an expectation. From an evolutionary perspective the fact that living processes under go cycles of change and growth requires that at some point they have detailed and accurate abilities to edit genetic information in various ways.....

Researchers in Britain make moves to perform gene editing in humans: The early rush to ban such use is going to fall by the wayside very quickly as governments realize that banning the technology for human use domestically will only put their people at a huge disadvantage going forward. As I have been explaining at my blog for years and explained in my chapter of The Future of Business :CrispR Cas9 will make all sorts new industries possible that are focused on genetic modification of superficial (phenotype) traits that are "low hanging fruit" modifications. It heralds the "cosmecutical" industry as I like to call it. I've written on this subject for quite some time having prognosticated its emergence going back a decade. Research teams all over the world are probably already at work (bolstered by entrepreneurs and business people who have come across these ideas) will require a few months to years of focused research identifying the importa...