GEN Biotechnology announces the publication of its June 2022 issue. GEN Biotechnology publishes outstanding peer-reviewed research and perspectives in all aspects of biotechnology. The Journal, led by Editor-in-Chief Hana El-Samad, PhD (University of California San Francisco; Altos Labs) and Executive Editor Kevin Davies, PhD is published bimonthly in print and online. Visit the GEN Biotechnology website for more information.
This press release is copyright Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Its use is granted only for journalists and news media. For full-text copies of articles or to arrange interviews with Dr. El-Samad, Dr. Davies, authors, or members of the editorial board, contact Kathryn Ryan at the Publisher
Adenine Base Editing In Vivo with a Single Adeno-Associated Virus Vector
Base editors (BEs) have opened new avenues for the treatment of genetic diseases. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors remain one of the most promising delivery vehicles for such precision gene therapies. However, high vector doses impose safety concerns, especially hepatotoxicity, and the small cargo size of AAVs remains a challenge.
In the June issue of GEN Biotechnology, Erik Sontheimer and colleagues present a compact BE that allows delivery using a single AAV vector. This has the potential to achieve therapeutic benefits at a lower dose than delivery strategies that require multiple vectors. The authors anticipate that these studies will accelerate precision somatic genome editing applications with enhanced safety in vivo.
Contact: Erik Sontheimer (University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School)
Email: erik.sontheimer@umassmed.edu
Commentary: Racial Disparities Are Rife in Biotech: We Must Act Now
In this commentary, Tendai Chisowa (Hummingbird Ventures) describes how historic approaches to patient recruitment and executive hiring have led to racial disparities that prevent the biotech industry from effectively serving patients of color. Notably, Chisowa outlines the consequences of representation gaps in therapeutic research, stark statistics that emphasize the extent of racial disparities in biotech leadership, and action items to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the biotech space.
Contact: Tendai Chisowa (Hummingbird Ventures)
Email: tendai@hummingbird.vc
Improving CRISPR-Cas12a Editing Rates in Human Primary Cells
Broadly applicable strategies to improve CRISPR gene editing using Cas12a include engineering of the enzyme and optimization of the nuclear localization signal (NLS). Scot Wolfe’s team presents an improved nuclease platform for genome editing in therapeutically relevant primary cells using a new Cas12a NLS variant. The authors state that this NLS configuration can be widely applied to other Cas12a variants to potentially increase their on-target activity without sacrificing their inherent specificity.
Contact: Scot Wolfe (University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School)
Email: scot.wolfe@umassmed.edu
Editorial: The Human Right to Our Bodies
The recently leaked memo from the Supreme Court of the United States that threatens to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision in which the court ruled that the U.S. Constitution protects the liberties of pregnant people to choose to have an abortion, has stirred an outcry over reproductive rights. In the June issue editorial, Hana El-Samad (GEN Biotechnology Editor-in-Chief) highlights the systemic health disparities impacting patients with female reproductive organs and calls the greater biotech community to take action.
Contact: Hana El-Samad (GEN Biotechnology; UCSF/Altos Labs)
Email: helsamad@altoslabs.com
A Data-Driven Lens to Understand Human Biology: An Interview with Daphne Koller
With healthy financing ($500 million and up), big deals with pharma and Genomic England, insitro is among the growing number of companies seeking to deploy artificial intelligence in drug discovery and development. In this interview, conducted by Malorye Branca, insitro founder and CEO Daphne Koller discusses her personal journey into digital biology and how insitro is combining stem cells, genome editing, cellular phenotyping, machine learning, and other data-generating tools to build in vitro models of disease to be maximally predictive of human clinical outcomes.
Contact: Daphne Koller (insitro)
Email: daphne@insitro.com
Review: Advances in Single-Cell Migration and Multi-Omics
Single-cell responses to cues, such as migration, are crucial for identifying the mechanisms underlying biological processes to facilitate disease detection and therapeutic development. This review article by Kiana Aran and colleagues examines the advantages and disadvantages of technologies for studying single-cell signaling and migration, and the applications of these technologies in multi-omics. In addition, the authors describe the latest efforts and remaining challenges of commercialization, and future perspectives for technologies to study single-cell responses to multiple cues.
Contact: Kiana Aran (Keck Graduate Institute)
Email: kiana_aran@kgi.edu
Also in the GEN Biotechnology June 2022 issue:
- An Interview with Andrew Hopkins (CEO Exscientia)
Hopkins recalls his unlikely journey from Pfizer to the University of Dundee and now the founding CEO of AI software company Exscientia and expounds on his belief that one day all drugs will be made using artificial intelligence.
2. Views & News: The Compleat Human Genome
Aravinda Chakravarti, a renowned human geneticist, explores the significance of the recently completed human genome sequence, thanks to the efforts of the telomere-to-telomere (T2T) consortium.
Journal
GEN Biotechnology
Method of Research
News article
Subject of Research
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