Massive gene editing made pig organs pathogen free
Pigs have long been considered as one of the most suitable organ supplies for human transplant. However to enable safe transplantation, researchers have to circumvent the violent immune responses that pig cells provoke, as well as the infection by viruses embedded in the pig genome. These porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) gene sequences have been the target of a new CRISPR/Cas9 editing project presented by geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School.
In their newly published report, Church and his colleagues announced the successful inactivation of 62 PERVs in pig embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology. These viruses are embedded in all pig’s genomes and was not able to be treated or neutralized using alternate techniques such as vaccines, RNA interference, and genetic editing by means of zinc finger nucleases and TAL effector nucleases. The number of genes edited in this work was ten times more than what have been done in any other animals. Similar scope of editing could be useful for synthetic-biology applications where multiple genes could be modified to regulate one another. However if CRISPR is to become a treatment for complex genetic diseases, editing many instance of a single, repetitive gene sequence won’t be sufficient. Instead, targeting many unique genes at one will be necessary.
With our proprietary next generation gene synthesis and cutting edge molecular biology technology, General Biosystems supports your research on engineering genetic circuit/systems:
1,Gene synthesis starting at $0.16/bp for knock-in plasmids.
2,Codon optimization to optimize Cas9 for different host species
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