Duke University has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Editas Medicine, a leading genome editing company, for genetic engineering technologies developed in the lab of Charles Gersbach, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. The agreement focuses on Gersbachs work with genome engineering technologies known as CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs.

Charles Gersbach

The agreement allows broad use of the technology developed in Gersbachs lab for the prevention or treatment of human disease. To this point, Gersbachs most notable work in that field is on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease affecting one in 3,500 newborn males that currently has no approved treatment and causes muscular deterioration, paralysis and eventual death, usually by age 25. Gersbachs work is focused on using gene editing to correct the mutated gene that causes the disease, in contrast to treating the resulting symptoms of the disease. Gersbach has also pioneered the use of both CRISPR/Cas9 and TALEs for turning on genes in a way that could be used to treat degenerative disorders or compensate for genetic defects.

Charlies deep expertise in both genome editing and in this area of biology is a tremendous asset as we begin to understand how to apply genome editing technologies to specific diseases, said Katrine Bosley, chief executive officer of Editas Medicine. Gersbach is also serving as a scientific advisor to Editas.

Editas is a leading genome editing company and part of a transformational new area of healthcaregenomic medicine. The company was founded by the pioneers and world leaders in genome editing bringing specific expertise in CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs technologies. The companys mission is to translate its proprietary technology into novel solutions to treat a broad range of genetically-driven diseases.

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Duke Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Leading Genome Editing Company