Genome Editing

BioPlan study reports on shifting trends in biomanufacturing.

Could you imagine storing all of your digital photos, audio, documents, and other files as DNA? Scientists can already write image and text files in DNA, which could revolutionize how we store and archive data. Researchers at MIT and colleagues have now developed an approach that allows them to encapsulate, barcode, and easily retrieve DNA data files from large pools, which could help to make DNA data storage a more feasible future prospect.

Researchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that is as strong as many common plastics in use today and could replace single-use plastics in many household products. The material is referred to as "vegan spider silk"—the same material as spider silk (without the spider). It was created using a new approach for assembling plant proteins into materials that mimic silk on a molecular level.

Synlogic's proprietary pipeline includes Synthetic Biotics for the treatment of metabolic disorders including phenylketonuria (PKU) and enteric hyperoxaluria (HOX). The company is also building a portfolio of assets suitable for partnering in immunology and oncology.

The company initiates part one of a planned $50 million dollar investment at its Cuxhaven, Germany facility.

Homology’s proprietary platform, which does not involve CRISPR, is designed to precisely and efficiently deliver genetic medicines in patients, either through a gene therapy or nuclease-free gene editing approach.

A company offering intelligent manufacturing software reports that it has seen deployments of the software rise dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An adenine base editor was used to convert the sickle-cell disease (SCD) allele to a nonpathogenic allele in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from SCD patients. Edited HSPCs were durable after engraftment in mice. High editing efficiency and evidence of phenotypic rescue offer encouragement that a one-time autologous treatment for SCD can be achieved.

Scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology developed a synthetic strain of E. coli that can construct artificial polymers from multiple non-canonical amino acids, by following instructions that the researchers encoded in their genes. The team found that this synthetic genome made the bacteria entirely resistant to infection by viruses.

Scientific stars at the ASGCT’s annual meeting, a virtual event, didn’t let technical failures prevent them from delivering a scientific extravaganza.