MIT and Harvard researchers discovered enzyme Cas12b can more precisely target, edit, and remove genomes of human cells than CRISPR Cas9

Briefing

MIT and Harvard researchers discovered enzyme Cas12b can more precisely target, edit, and remove genomes of human cells than CRISPR Cas9

January 29, 2019

Briefing

  • Gene Editing Enzyme – MIT and Harvard researchers, including founder of CRISPR gene editing system, demonstrated enzyme Cas12b can be engineered to more accurately target, edit, and remove genomes of human cells than CRISPR Cas9
  • Problem – Cas12b enzyme naturally works in environments with temperatures higher than body temperature
  • Solution – Created version of Cas12b that can work in lower temperatures, found to be able to edit genomes in primary human T cells, useful for therapeutics that target immune system
  • Public Availability – Will make Cas12b available for academic research at Zhang Lab’s page on website Addgene
  • Other Cas12b Research – Includes work by University of California - Berkeley where Cas12b was found to mediate cleavage of DNA in vitro, and Chinese Academy of Sciences which used Cas12b to edit mammalian cells

Accelerator

Sector

Healthcare/Health Sciences

Organization

Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Source

Original Publication Date

January 22, 2019

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