CRISPR

Medical

Encouraging early results from first human CRISPR gene therapy trials

Promising data from one of the first human trials testing a CRISPR gene therapy has just been revealed. Although it is too early to evaluate long-term effects, the initial reports demonstrate success for two patients with genetic blood diseases.

Harvard and MIT researchers have developed a new CRISPR gene-editing system called prime editing

Medical

Next-gen CRISPR system allows precise search-and-replace gene editing

CRISPR is a powerful gene-editing tool – but it has its own problems too. Now, Harvard and MIT scientists have created a new approach called prime editing, which could correct almost 90 percent of disease-causing genes.

The dawn of a new age of superhumans could nearly be upon us. Humanity will begin steering its own evolution for the first time in history, with some predictable results and some we can't see coming.

Science

Hacking Darwin: How the coming genetics revolution will play out

Humanity is poised to take a huge leap forward, as a convergence of next-gen technologies combine to give us unprecedented power over our own biology. Here's a roadmap to the key technologies and how it's going to play out in the coming decades.

Two new studies in mice have shown promising advances in strengthening the body's immune system to help fight cancer

Medical

Cancer immunotherapy boosted by two new Yale studies

One of the most promising types of cancer treatment involves boosting the immune system’s response to the presence of cancer, and now two new mouse studies out of Yale University are reporting breakthroughs in this area.

Luqman Jubair (left) and Nigel McMillan (right), researchers on the new study

Medical

CRISPR closes in on a cure for cervical cancer in mice

Researchers at Griffith University in Australia have used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system to effectively cure cervical cancer in mice.

A fruit fly on the wing of a monarch butterfly

Biology

CRISPR flies have been gene edited so they can eat poison

Scientists have used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to give fruit flies a new evolutionary advantage – the ability to eat poison and store it in their bodies.

A new study may have found a "kill switch" that clears out dormant HIV from cells

Medical

HIV kill switch clears out dormant virus in human cells

In lab tests, researchers have identified a cellular “switch” that could be turned off to clear out HIV lying dormant inside cells.

New research helps make CRISPR more of a genetic Swiss Army Knife

Biology

New tool turns CRISPR into "genetic Swiss Army Knife"

The CRISPR tool is often referred to as “genetic scissors,” but a new improvement turns it into a “genetic Swiss Army Knife.”

One of the albino lizard hatchlings, one of the first reptiles to have its genes edited through CRISPR

Biology

Albino lizards are world's first gene-edited reptiles

Researchers have managed to successfully edit the genes of lizards with CRISPR for the first time, turning them albino.

Left column: the researchers' CRISPR gel when not exposed to the trigger DNA sequence. Right: the gel degrades entirely after two hours of exposure to the trigger

Science

MIT and Harvard use CRISPR to "edit" DNA gels for diagnostic devices

New MIT and Harvard research shows how versatile CRISPR is, putting the genetic scissors to work in diagnostic tools and timed drug delivery systems.

Genes and proteins in cells interact in many different ways. Each dot represents a gene; the lines are their interactions. For the first time, the new method uses biotechnology to influence entire gene networks in a single step

Medical

CRISPR breakthrough allows scientists to edit multiple genes simultaneously

An incredible new breakthrough from scientists at ETH Zurich has, for the first time, demonstrated a new CRISPR method that can modify dozens of genes simultaneously, allowing for more large-scale cell reprogramming.

Using a novel combination of a new drug therapy and the CRISPR gene editing tool, scientists have eliminated HIV from the genomes of living animals for the first time

Medical

Scientists combine CRISPR and drug therapy to cure HIV infection in mice for the first time

A permanent cure for HIV has remained elusive. But scientists have now made a significant breakthrough in this area, using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool to entirely remove the virus from the genomes of living animals for the first time ever.