Thursday, February 28, 2019

Which biotech startups are basing their technology on the CRISPR/CAS system?



The global markets for CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing were estimated at $1.22 billion in 2017 and it is expected to reach $5.3 billion by 2025 growing at a CAGR of 20.19 percent.
CRISPR Landscape is already witnessing germination of second-generation startups which are swiftly advancing this technology to pioneer breakthrough applications. Featured below are a few of the novel gene editing companies presently active:
  • Mammoth Biosciences
  • Agenovir Corporation
  • eGenesis
  • Plantedit
  • NTrans Technologies
  • Beam Therapeutics
Large biotech companies like Millipore Sigma (earlier Sigma Aldrich), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Toolgen, Genecopeia, Horizon Discovery, and Agilent Technologies and pharmaceuticals like Novartis, Vertex, Bayer AG, AstraZeneca, Evolva, Juno Therapeutics, and GE Healthcare have skin in the CRISPR game exploring novel techniques to evolve their drug discovery and development processes. They are forming strategic alliances with crucial CRISPR technology companies like Crispr Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, Caribou Biosciences and Intellia Therapeutics to devise gene-based therapies for various genetic diseases.
List of companies active in CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing market:
  • Addgene
  • Agilent Technologies Inc.
  • Applied Biological Materials Inc
  • ATUM (formerly DNA2.0)
  • Caribou Biosciences
  • Casebia Therapeutics
  • Crispr Therapeutics
  • Editas Medicine
  • Genecopeia
  • Genscript
  • Horizon Discovery (Dharmacon)
  • Intellia Therapeutics
  • New England Biolabs
  • Origene Technologies Inc.
  • Sigma Aldrich (acquired by Merck)
  • System Biosciences
  • Takara Bio USA, Inc. (formerly Clontech Laboratories)
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Toolgen Inc.
  • Transposagen Biopharmaceutical

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Can CRISPR reverse aging?



I would differ with most answers and say YES I do believe so.
The problem is not whether CRISPR can reverse or not, the problem is do we fully understand all factors of aging or not. Few known factors of aging are
  • Declining of phosphatidylcholine- it is an an antioxidant which is present in cell membranes.
  • Declining of COENZYME Q10- body makes CoQ10, and your cells use it to produce energy yourbody needs for cell growth and maintenance. It also functions as an antioxidant, which protects the body from damage caused by harmful molecules.
  • formation of atherosclerotic plaques- it blocks arteries
  • formation of amyloid plaques - causes alzheimer
Currently there are many intravenous supplements to stop or reverse decline of some above enzymes but in future with help of CRISPR Cas9 or similar techniques we may be able to directly alter the genome altogether.
The bigger challenge is forming an exclusive list of factors that causes aging. With time our understanding of the factors causing aging will improve substantially. Actually the Human genome project completed only a decade back, once we have the entire genome sequence of an individual from birth to old age we may be able to figure out all genome mutations caused by aging and may well be able to alter them back using gene editing tools like CRISPR Cas9. I personally believe it can be done lot sooner by building predictive models from multiple individuals of different age using Machine learning(aka artificial intelligence) without having to wait for an individual’s genome data from birth to old age.
My take is if you can hang on for 30–40 years more, you may well be able to live for 200 more. I know my answer sounds the craziest among all here. Can’t help it, I am big believer of law of accelating progress of science and for this case the concept of Longevity escape velocity.
PS:
At low level all factors might not be very well understood but at high level Aubrey de Grey believes it can be summised in the following 7 factors and their Maintenance approach fixes.
He mentioned the ways to tackle aging for ages has been by Gerontology and Geriatrics approaches which didn’t work and may soon be replaced with Maintenance approaches of which CRISPR Cas9 would fall into.
Here is the full talk.
Here is the first human who reversed her age

Friday, February 22, 2019

What are some interesting facts about genetics?

1. When identical twins procreate with another set of identical twins, their offspring are both genetic siblings and social cousins.
2. Cheetahs were almost wiped out by the last ice-age, and all modern cheetahs are descended from a small portion of the surviving cats that interbred to maintain their species. Because of this, cheetahs are practically genetic clones of one another.
3. The great majority of cancers, some 90-95% of cases, are due to environmental factors. The remaining 5-10% are due to inherited genetics.
4. About 40% to 50% of the genetic information found in our GI tract does not match anything that has ever been classified before, not plant, animal, fungus, virus, or bacteria. We have no clue what it is. Biologists call it “biological dark matter.”
5. The “average” white American is 0.7% African by genetic descent, and that up to 30% of white Americans are between 2% and 20% African by genetic descent. Conversely, 10% of all black Americans are actually more than 50% European by genetic descent.
6. A species of fruit fly was kept in complete darkness for 57 years (1400 generations) showed genetic alterations that were favorable to survival in that environmental condition.
7. Some women can have a genetic mutation that makes them tetrachromatic, which causes their eyes to have four different types of cone cells, enabling them to see 100 million different colors compared to the roughly one million colors most of us can see.
8. Inbreeding and the rare genetic condition called methemoglobinemia resulted in blue-skinned family in Kentucky named the Fugates.
9. There is a genetic disease called the Laron syndrome that results in short stature, longer life expectancy, and near immunity to cancer and diabetes.
10. Blue-eyed people probably have a single, common ancestor, who had a genetic mutation between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago.
11. About one in every 4 million lobsters is born with a rare genetic defect that turns it blue. Sadly, these prized critters rarely survive to adulthood. After all, a bright blue crustacean crawling around the ocean floor is simply easier for predators to spot.
12. One single group of 55 chimpanzees in West Africa has twice the genetic variability of all humans combined.
13. Sickle cell anemia is actually a genetic mutation and is an adaptive advantage to people living in malaria infested areas. Humans with one of the two alleles of sickle-cell disease show less severe symptoms when infected with malaria
14. Through In vitro fertilization (IVF) you can pick the sex of your child, screen for chromosomal abnormalities, and get a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis/screen (to prevent an inherited disease or other genetic defects).

15. Blonde hair is not exclusive to Europeans. Melanesians of the south Pacific evolved a different gene for blonde hair