Welcome to the CRISPR Zoo!

Nature  Sara Reardon 3/09/2016

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Timothy Doran’s 11-year-old daughter is allergic to eggs. And like about 2% of children worldwide who share the condition, she is unable to receive many routine vaccinations because they are produced using chicken eggs.

Doran, a molecular biologist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Geelong, Australia, thinks that he could solve this problem using the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR–Cas9. Most egg allergies are caused by one of …

CRISPR: The New Tool in the Gene Editing Revolution Explained

ABC Science By Bernie Hobbs Updated 11 Apr 2016, 11:03pm

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A powerful new gene-editing technology called CRISPR has enormous potential to treat human diseases but the ability to tinker with genes can also be controversial. Here we explain what CRISPR is and how it works.

Since gene technology first emerged over 40 years ago we’ve seen a wealth of genetic advances — not least of all the decoding of the human genome in 2001.

Key

Vaccines List

US & Canada – Aborted Fetal Cell Line Products

Disease Product Name Manufacturer Fetal Cell Line
Chickenpox Varivax, Varilrix Merck, GSK WI-38, MRC-5
Hepatitis A Vaqta, Havrix Avaxim, Epaxal Merck, GSK- Sanofi, Berna MRC-5 MRC-5
Hepatitis A & B
Hepatitis A & Typhoid
Twinrix
Vivaxim
GSK
Sanofi
MRC-5 MRC-5
Measles/Mumps/Rubella MMR, Priorix Merck, GSK RA273, WI-38
Measles-Rubella MR Vax
Eolarix
Merck
GSK
RA273, WI-38
RA273, MRC-5
Mumps-Rubella Biavax 11 Merck RA273, Wl-38
Rubella Meruvax II

Panel on Infant Lives Meets in Washington

BioEdge.org  March 12, 2016  by Xavier Symons

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Professor G. Kevin Donovan of Georgetown University testifying before the panel.

The US Senate Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives met for the first time last week, in a heated session that saw several experts testify against the procurement of fetal tissue for research. The panel was convened following the release of several videos apparently capturing Planned Parenthood employees negotiating the sale of tissue to private research firms.…

Characteristics and Viral Propagation Properties of a New Human Diploid Cell Line, Walvax-2, and its Suitability as a Candidate Cell Substrate for Vaccine Production

National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health  11/4/2015

Ma,B1, He LF, Zhang YL, Chen M, Wang LL, Yang, HW, Yan T, Sun MX, Zheng CY

Abstract

Human diploid cell strains (HDCSs), possessing identical chromosome sets known to be free of all known adventitious agents, are of great use in developing human vaccines. However it is extremely difficult to obtain qualified HDCSs that can satisfy the requirements for the mass production of vaccines. We have

Ethicists Approve ‘3 Parent’ Embryos to Stop Diseases, but Congressional Ban Remains

The Washington Post Feb 3, 2016  by Joel Achenbach

An elite panel of scientists and bioethicists offered guarded approval Wednesday of a novel form of genetic engineering that could prevent congenital diseases but would result in babies with genetic material from three parents.

The committee, which was convened last year at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, concluded that it is ethically permissible to “go forward, but with caution” with mitochondrial replacement techniques …

NCER Open Letter to FDA Committee Regarding Gene Editing

Attn: Michael Berrios

The Committee on Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases

 

Dear Committee Members:

There are at least five reasons why the Board of Directors of the Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research recommends that the FDA deny licensure for the use of mitochondrial techniques in U.S. fertility clinics or research laboratories.

 

  • The pronuclear transfer technique of mitochondrial replacement (MR) involves the

Insulin-producing pancreatic cells created from human skin cells New cells prevented the onset of diabetes in an animal model of the disease

Science Daily   Jan 6, 2016   Gladstone Institute

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have successfully converted human skin cells into fully-functional pancreatic cells. The new cells produced insulin in response to changes in glucose levels, and, when transplanted into mice, the cells protected the animals from developing diabetes in a mouse model of the disease.

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Functioning human pancreatic cells after they’ve been transplanted into a mouse are shown. …

Sylvester Stem-Cell Patients Celebrate Their Transformed Lives

Miami Herald  Jan 14, 2016  By Glenn Garvin

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Keith Oliver, patient 500 to receive a stem-cell transplant for Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Oliver was one of many patients celebrating their new lives Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, at a reunion of stem-cell transplant patients. PEDRO PORTAL pportal@elnuevoherald.com

It wasn’t quite all about the hair when a hundred or so former patients gathered at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Thursday

MS Patient Became First Scot To Successfully Have Radical Stem Cell Treatment Hailed by Medical Experts

Daily Record  Jan 25, 2016  By David Taylor

Multiple  sclerosis patient Lucy Clarke is the first Scot to successfully have the radical stem cell treatment that’s being hailed as “miraculous” by experts. Medics are now hopeful that it could eradicate the degenerative neurological condition.

Lucy, from Inverness, had to raise £40,000 for treatment in Moscow as she didn’t qualify for a trial in the UK. But now she’s able to live a more pain-free life …