How the immune system could stymie some CRISPR gene therapies

Nature   NEWS EXPLAINER 08 JANUARY 2018

Researchers hoping to use a gene-editing technique to treat diseases may have to seek alternative enzymes.

The body’s own immune system could thwart some efforts to develop gene therapies based on the trendy genome-editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9, according to a study released on 5th January.
Hopes are high that CRISPR–Cas9 could one day be used in people to correct mutations that cause disease. But the new study, which was …

U.S. doctors plan to treat cancer patients using CRISPR

MIT Technology Review by Emily Mullin January 17, 2018

Gene-edited immune cells could help wipe out deadly tumors.

The first human test in the U.S. involving the gene-editing tool CRISPR could begin at any time and will employ the DNA cutting technique in a bid to battle deadly cancers.

Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania say they will use CRISPR to modify human immune cells so that they become expert cancer killers, according to plans …

After 14 years, California’s stem cell agency finally gets a royalty cheque

BioEdge by Michael Cook | 4 Mar 2018

Fourteen years after Californians voted an overwhelming Yes! to stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cells, and created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the agency has received its first royalty cheque. The amount? US$190,345.87.

Not even the staff of the controversial CIRM were inclined to boast about the return on investment for Californian tax-payers. Proposition 71, which voters approved in 2004, authorised a $3 …