Meet the Texas startup that wants to decarbonize the chemical industry

Solugen, a startup that has set itself up with no less lofty a goal than the decarbonization of a massive chunk of the petrochemical industry, may be the first legitimate multi-million dollar company to start out in a meth lab. When company co-founders Gaurab Chakrabarti and Sean Hunt began hunting for a lab to test […]

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The World Health Organization is setting up rules and oversight for human gene editing

Yesterday, the World Health Organization wrapped up its first meeting of a new advisory committee set up to create global governance and oversight standards for human gene editing. The committee was hastily pulled together in December after the revelation last year that a Chinese scientist had genetically modified two embryos using CRISPR technology to remove the […]

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Mammoth Biosciences adds the final piece of the CRISPR diagnostics puzzle to its toolkit

With the announcement today that Mammoth Biosciences has received the exclusive license from the University of California, Berkeley to the new CRISPR protein Cas14, the company now has the last piece of its diagnostics toolkit in place. Cas14 is a newly discovered protein from the lab of Jennifer Doudna, a pioneer in gene-editing research and […]

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Work on world’s first CRISPR gene-edited babies declared illegal by China

Chinese authorities have declared the work of He Jiankui, who shocked the scientific community by claiming he successfully created the world’s first gene-edited babies, an illegal decision in pursuit of “personal fame and gain.” Investigators have completed preliminary steps in a probe that began in November following He’s claims and say they will “seriously” punish the researcher […]

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Up to $818 million deal between J&J and Locus Biosciences points to a new path for CRISPR therapies

The up to $818 million deal between Locus Biosciences and Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a division of Johnson & Johnson) that was announced yesterday points toward a new path for CRISPR gene editing technologies and (potentially) the whole field of microbiome-targeted therapies. Based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., Locus is commercializing research initially developed by scientists at […]

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Companies tracking mutations in cancer cells can provide a key to unlocking better therapies

Investors and entrepreneurs are beginning to bring new diagnostic tools to market that promise better results for cancer patients through the identification of mutations in cancer cells that can create more targeted therapies. Earlier this month, research using technology developed by the startup Mission Bio helped identify cellular mutations in acute myeloid leukemia cancer cells that could […]

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A scientist says he altered the genes of two baby girls. How big a line did he just cross?

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If genetics researcher He Jiankui has provided an honest account of his new experiment, there are twin baby girls alive in China right now, and He altered and edited their genes. 

This news — if proven to be true — is an unprecedented event for our species; an event that is all at once daring, irresponsible, and revolutionary. And at some point in the future, this event could be the means of staving off afflictions like cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. 

He revealed the successful birth of the twins to the Associated Press on Monday and again at a conference on Wednesday. He used a powerful but still new gene-editing tool, known as CRISPR, to rewrite a portion of the girls’ DNA. Specifically, He altered a gene to make the cells more resistant to the HIV virus. On the surface, this is a laudable goal. But scientists emphasize that altering human DNA is still too new a technology, and with it may come unforeseen, permanent risks to the human body. Read more…

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View More A scientist says he altered the genes of two baby girls. How big a line did he just cross?

A scientist claims to have made the world’s first gene-edited babies — Sharp Science

Professor He Jiankui claims that he successfully altered the DNA of twins in order to make them immune to HIV. The scientist from China made the announcement through a YouTube video earlier this week, and has subsequently sparked moral concerns. …

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CRISPR scientist in China claims his team’s research has resulted in the world’s first gene-edited babies

In a dramatic development for CRISPR research, a Chinese scientist from a university in Shenzhen claims he has succeeded in helping create the world’s first genetically-edited babies. Dr. Jiankui He told the Associated Press that twin girls were born earlier this month after he edited their embryos using CRISPR technology to remove the CCR5 gene, […]

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HP is ‘printing’ drugs for the CDC to speed up antibiotic testing

At least 2 million people in the U.S. become infected with so-called “super bugs” and at least 23,000 people die as a direct result of these infections each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Now, HP’s Biohacker technology is working with the CDC on a pilot program to “print” and test antibiotics […]

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Mammoth Biosciences raises $23 million for its CRISPR-based disease detection engine

Mammoth Biosciences, the biotech company that grew out of a close relationship with CRISPR legend Jennifer Doudna, has raised $23 million in a sturdy Series A. Mammoth previously raised $120,000 from NFX and the company continued quietly picking up funding as it built toward its exit from stealth mode in April 2018. Its current round […]

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CRISPR DNA editing may cause serious genetic damage, researchers warn

CRISPR-Cas9, the gene editing tool that is currently the darling of biotech and many other fields, may not be quite as miraculous as early tests suggested. A new study finds that what scientists thought of as a scalpel may be more like a felling axe, causing damage hundreds of times what was previously observed.

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