Lab News

IGI Graduate Student Researcher Alan Wang has been awarded a 2016 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.  Alan received his BA in biology and anthropology from Amherst College in 2012, working with Professor Dominic Poccia to examine the role of diacylglycerol in shaping biological membranes. He was a research assistant at the NIH and UCSF before joining the IGI as a graduate student in May 2015, using Cas9 to study locus specific protein composition. 

Press Release

NSF awards 2016 Graduate Research Fellowships 
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program | March 29, 2016

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IGI Scientific Director Jacob Corn and IGI Research Associate Katelynn Kazane spoke with Seth Shostak and Molly Bentley about CRISPR technology in an interview for Big Picture Science at the SETI Institute.  

Gene-y in a Bottle
Big Picture Science | Seth Shostak and Molly Bentley | March 21, 2016

CRISPR technology enables researchers to change the genetic code by removing and changing the order of genetic information in a cell or organism.  It is now easily accessibly and it is taking the science of genetic modification to new levels of precision and speed.  Other guests on this program include Lee Goldman (Cardiologist, Dean of Columbia University Medical Center, and author of “Too Much of a Good Thing; How Four Key Survival Traits Are Now Killing Us”) and Josiah Zayner (Biohacker and former NASA synthetic biologist).

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Welcome to four new lab members:  Katelynn Kazane, Hong Ma, Julia Chu and Nicki Naddaf.

Katelynn and Hong are research associates, working on CRISPRi screens in challenging biological contexts. Julia is our new lab manager, helping bring order to chaos, and Nicki is an undergrad volunteer working with Benjamin on using CRISPR in cells of the immune system.

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In his article today for The Washington Post, IGI Scientific Director Jacob Corn explains how CRISPR technology is “democratizing” gene editing research in its ability to dramatically accelerate biological discovery by giving researchers an unprecedented opportunity to delve deeply into a wide variety of biological systems that were previously impenetrable.  CRISPR’s biggest impact on most people’s lives won’t be in the curing of genetic diseases:  “It’s much larger: the widening of our horizon of discovery, which could lead to advances we can’t even imagine.”  

CRISPR will change lives, but not only through genetic engineering
The Washington Post | Jacob Corn | February 23, 2016

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IGI Scientific Director Jacob Corn presented “The end of genetic disease” during a live webcast of TEDxBerkeley on Saturday, February 6, 2016.  

This TEDxBerkeley event gathered world-leading thinkers, makers and doers at UC Berkeley to discuss “Finding x.” The audience was composed of over 2000 students, professors and thought leaders from Berkeley and beyond for a stimulating day of presentations, discussions, entertainment and art.  TEDx is a TED-created/guided program of local, independently organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. 

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IGI Scientific Director Jacob Corn will attend a CIRM standards working group meeting this Thursday, February 4, 2016, to discuss CIRM’s involvement in human genome editing.  In light of recent science-policy initiatives, this working group is specifically being asked to review CIRM policies associated with gene editing of human germ cells and embryos, and an objective of this review is to ensure CIRM research continues to be conducted under the highest medical and ethical standards.

CIRM Scientific and Medical Accountability Standards Working Group Workshop on Human Gene Editing
February 4, 2016
Los Angeles, CA

Related Articles

• International Summit on Human Gene Editing – Washington, DC | December 1-3, 2015
• A prudent path forward for genomic engineering and germline gene modification – Science | Doudna, et al | March 19, 2015
• IGI Bioethics Workshop addresses concerns about CRISPR research – Napa, CA | January 24, 2015

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The IGI will welcome students from The Athenian School in Danville for a lab tour on Monday, February 1st.  Molly Gowen’s junior/senior geology and chemistry students will meet with IGI Scientific Director, Jacob Corn, tour IGI laboratory facilities, and talk with IGI grad students and postdocs about CRISRP-Cas9 genetic editing technology, careers in science and working at UC Berkeley. 

Welcome!

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IGI researchers have recently made significant strides in improving the efficiency of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, as well as our understanding of its versatility in repairing genetic information within a cell.  In a paper published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology, IGI Scientific Director, Jacob Corn, and IGI postdoc Chris Richardson reveal that they have invented a new approach that improves the patching efficiency of Cas9-induced DNA breaks.  The new technique allows researchers to patch a section of DNA by inserting different genetic information,  and it is especially useful when trying to repair genetic mutations that cause hereditary diseases such as sickle cell disease or severe combined immune deficiency.  The precision of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in cutting DNA at precise locations has propelled a revolution in genetic engineering worldwide.  The process of making exact and accurate changes to the genetic code after a DNA break, however, has proved to be a much more challenging process, but this new approach will enable researchers to more efficiently alter the genetic code by using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to accurately insert new genetic information into the break.

Enhancing homology-directed genome editing by catalytically active and inactive CRISPR-Cas9 using asymmetric donor DNA 
Nature Biotechnology | Chris Richardson, Jacob Corn, et al | January 20, 2016

Press Release: Advance improves cutting and pasting with CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing
UC Berkeley News | Robert Sanders | January 20, 2016

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IGI/Corn Lab Postdoc Mark DeWitt has been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship through the CIRM Training Program.  Mark will be leveraging IGI’s expertise in genetic manipulation to develop novel methods for editing human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to develop effective treatments for genetic blood diseases. In adults, HSCs are the ultimate progenitors of all blood cells, and any genetic manipulation in a patient’s HSCs will become permanently reflected in their blood and bone marrow, including their red blood cells.  As a CIRM fellow, Mark will be developing methods of editing HSCs to correct the genetic mutation that causes sickle cell disease (SCD), and these methods may form the basis for a cure for SCD by autologous bone marrow transplant.  SCD is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders that affects nearly 100,000 individuals in the US (predominantly African-American) and millions more worldwide. 

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), California’s Stem Cell Agency, was created in 2004 by California’s Proposition 71, which authorized $3 billion in funding for stem cell research in California. The agency funds stem cell research at institutions throughout California with the goal of developing new therapies for deadly diseases and disorders. 

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The IGI Lab is excited to welcome MCB graduate students Emily Lingeman and Alan Wang to the lab. 

Emily will work on post-translational regulation of proteins involved in chemotherapeutic resistance. Alan will work on a new method to detect transient chromosomal interactions and its application to noncoding RNAs.

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