Skin; Lets Break It Down
By Christopher Smith Hello reader, I hope that you’re well, And that you have a few moments to dwell, To learn about my Post Doc project, And to rhyming you don’t object! My research focuses on a specific gene, Over…
CRISPR-engineered T cells in patients with refractory cancer
Author: Dr Mustafa M. Munye, 6th May 2020 A recent paper from Carl June’s lab published in the journal Science¹ described results of a University of Pennsylvania clinical trial that administered in three patients T-cells engineered to target cancer cells…
Precision correction of pathogenic mutations using prime editing technology
Author: Dr Christos Georgiadis, 18th December 2019 A broad range of genome editing tools are currently available enabling targeted scission at a predetermined DNA locus. The field has exploded with the invention of CRISPR allowing scientists to cheaply and rapidly…
Programmed to kill: Synthetic virology to attack cancer
Author: Alexander Baker, 26th November 2019 Carefully modified viruses are becoming major new drugs in the battle against cancer. The idea is that the viruses can be re-engineered so instead of attacking healthy cells and causing disease, they only attack…
Gene-loaded sutures to promote tendon healing
Author: Robyn Bell, 14th October 2019 Injuries to tendons, the tissue that links muscle to bone, are commonly seen in the clinic yet few strategies exist to improve upon slow and largely poor tendon healing standards. Published in the September…
3D Printing of Personalized Cardiac Patches and Hearts
Author: Professor Sian Harding, 30th September 2019 Tissue engineering for cardiac repair has reached an advanced stage and engineered constructs are starting to be approved for first-in-human trials. This has been driven by positive factors such as the marked improvement…
Retirement of Prof George Dickson, a founder of British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy
Author: Dr Linda Popplewell, 25th July 2019 The British Society for Gene Therapy, as BSGCT was originally named, was founded seventeen years ago by a number of pioneers in the field including Prof George Dickson. On 3rd July this year,…
The origin of your noggin
Author: Dr Liam Hurst, 16th July 2019 ‘Where do you get your brains from?!’ Perhaps your parents have said this to you? I bet even Einstein’s mother or Hawking’s father have thought this about them. Being bright can be a…
Human Germline Editing – What’s the big deal?
Author: Dr. Jonathan Appleby, PhD; Chief Scientific Officer, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, 14th May 2019. In November 2018, He Jiankui, gave a presentation at the second international summit on Human Genome Editing (1). During the presentation, social media led…
One image at a time: using cryoEM to unpick how viruses infect cells
Author: Dr Alan Parker, 25th April 2019 Over the last few years a wave of virus-based therapies has progressed through late stage clinical evaluation and to (or near to) the market place. Therapeutic viruses are now being harnessed to correct…