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May/June 2017 Volume 21, Number 2 R&D News.................. 1
Cloud-connecting your pipette and notebook Page 8
Validation of colorants in microchips for real-time PCR AriaDNA Page 11
Appointments............. 7 Pharma Notes........... 15 New Products........... 16 App Reviews.............. 18
Researchers call for caution on CRISPR Study shows CRISPR could alter regions of the genome which researchers are not targeting
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) appears to be the new darling of biotech. There are some 20 human trials in progress, mostly in China, involving the novel gene-editing technique which has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment. But it doesn’t stop there. Researchers are also using CRISPR in experiments aimed at creating mutant mosquitos bioengineered to resist malaria-causing parasites. Scientists are using CRISPR to insert the DNA of wooly mammoths into lab-grown elephants in order to
bring the extinct prehistoric animals back to life. CRISPR is such a power tool that there are some people calling for caution on how scientists employ the gene-editing technique. CRISPR-Cas9, which enables scientists to edit the DNA of any species with extreme precision and efficiency, offers hope of delivering an affordable way of targeting cancers with altered immune cells and treating other diseases such as leukemia and HIV/AIDS. Despite the technique’s touted precision, a new study indicates
that mutations occur in the areas where DNA has been cut. A recent study in the titled Unexpected mutations after CRISPRCas9 editing in vivo which was published in the Nature Methods, said scientists investigated mutations which occurred in mice DNA that had undergone CRISPR gene editing. “The investigators were able to determine that CRISPR had successfully corrected a gene that causes blindness, but found that the genomes of two independent gene therapy recipients had sustained more than 1,500 single-nucleotide mutations and more than 100 larger deletions and insertions,” the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News reported. “None of these DNA mutations were predicted by computer algorithms that are widely used by researchers to look for off-target effects.” Dr. Vinit Mahajan, a co-author of the study, remains hopeful for CRISPR. “We’re still upbeat about CRISPR,
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Zymeworks raises US$85-M in IPO
Vancouver biotherapeutics firm’s initial public offering seen as great step forward for Canadian life sciences space
Canada’s biotech sector was in the spotlight this June with the announcement that Vancouver’s Zymeworks had raised $85 million in its initial public offering. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is the first Canadian Publications Mail Registration Number: 40052410
we’re physicians, and we know that every new therapy has some potential side effects – but we need to be aware of what they are,” Mahajan was quoted in a BigThink. com article. CRISPR could alter regions of the genome which researchers are not targeting, according to Dr. J. Keith Joung of Massachusetts General Hospital, a report from StatNews. com said. At a recent American Society of Hematology workshop on genomeediting, Joung showed some 150 experts from industry and academia an example where CRISPR is supposed to edit the VEGFA gene on chromosome 6. VEGFA stimulates production of blood vessels, including those used by cancerous tumors. Joung said studies have shown that the CRISPR can hit genes on every one of the other 22 human chromosomes. The issue of off-target effects is important. There is the possibility
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