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Genetic Engineering for Food Security to Have Strong Impact on Oilseed and Grain Farming Businesses | Discover Company Insights on BizVibe -...

Arabidopsis plants were used to develop the first CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive in plants.

With a goal of breeding resilient crops that are better able to withstand drought and disease, University of California San Diego scientists have developed the first CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive in plants.

While gene drive technology has been developed in insects to help stop the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, researchers in Professor Yunde Zhaos lab, along with colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, demonstrated the successful design of a CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive that cuts and copies genetic elements in Arabidopsis plants.

Breaking from the traditional inheritance rules that dictate that offspring acquire genetic materials equally from each parent (Mendelian genetics), the new research uses CRISPR-Cas9 editing to transmit specific, targeted traits from a single parent in subsequent generations. Such genetic engineering could be used in agriculture to help plants defend against diseases to grow more productive crops. The technology also could help fortify plants against the impacts of climate change such as increased drought conditions in a warming world.

The research, led by postdoctoral scholar Tao Zhang and graduate student Michael Mudgett in Zhaos lab, is published in the journal Nature Communications.

This work defies the genetic constraints of sexual reproduction that an offspring inherits 50% of their genetic materials from each parent, said Zhao, a member of the Division of Biological Sciences Section of Cell and Developmental Biology. This work enables inheritance of both copies of the desired genes from only a single parent.The findings can greatly reduce the generations needed for plant breeding.

The study is the latest development by researchers in the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) at UC San Diego, which was built upon the foundation of a new technology called active genetics with potential to influence population inheritance in a variety of applications.

A schematic representation of a new gene drive using CRISPR/Cas9 technology.

Developing superior crops through traditional genetic inheritance can be expensive and time consuming as genes are passed through multiple generations. Using the new active genetics technology based on CRISPR-Cas9, such genetic bias can be achieved much more quickly, the researchers say.

I am delighted that this gene drive success, now achieved by scientists affiliated with TIGS in plants, extends the generality of this work previously demonstrated at UC San Diego, to be applicable in insects and mammals, said TIGS Global Director Suresh Subramani. This advance will revolutionize plant and crop breeding and help address the global food security problem.

Coauthors of the paper include: Tao Zhang, Michael Mudgett, Ratnala Rambabu, Bradley Abramson, Xinhua Dai, Todd Michael and Yunde Zhao.

The research was funded by TIGS-UC San Diego and a training grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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UC San Diego Scientists Develop the First CRISPR/Cas9-based Gene Drive in Plants - UC San Diego Health

On December 14, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved GalSafe pigs, which are genetically modified (GM) for use in food production and medical products. At the time, the agency noted in its Consumer Q&A that intentional genomic alterations (IGAs) in animals would be regulated by FDA to ensure that it is safe for the animal, safe for anyone that consumes food from the animal, and that it is effective, i.e., it does what the developer claims it will do. The agency also explained that IGAs would be subject to premarket oversight whether they are intended to be used for food or to produce pharmaceuticals or other useful products (emphasis added), with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) being responsible for the labeling of food from GM animals.

However, on yet another show of intra-agency conflict during the Trump administration, just several weeks later the USDA moved to wrest the oversight of GM animals intended for food production from FDA by issuing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), titled Regulation of the Movement of Animals Modified or Developed by Genetic Engineering. Under the ANPRM, the USDA would be responsible for:

Notably, FDA would continue to regulate GM seafood. This proposed regulatory framework is intended to operate under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the USDA and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The MOU was signed by the two agencies on January 13, 2021, just mere days before the change in administration. The MOU transfers the oversight of GM animals intended for agricultural purposes (i.e., human food, fiber, and labor) from FDA to the USDA under authorities granted to the USDA by the Animal Health Protection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. Under the MOU, FDA will continue to have authority over IGAs intended for any purpose other than agricultural use, including biopharma, xenotransplantation, and gene therapies. Importantly, if a specific GM animal species is intended for human food supply, FDA must consult with the USDA on the food safety review to promote consistent food safety reviews and monitoring for all amenable species intended for human food as part of USDA's new program.

Considering the strong interest in the proposed change in agency oversight by both industry and consumers alikeas well as the Biden-Harris administrations likely desire to gauge the support and opposition for the plan before making a decisionUSDA reopened the comment period for the ANPRM in early March, which was extended to May 7, 2021. Despite strong support from industry, however, animal welfare, public health, and environmental advocates have signed letters urging both Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, and Xavier Becerra, HHS Secretary, to allow FDA to retain its oversight over GM animals intended for food production, claiming the MOU weakens FDAs authority to protect public health.

In the meantime, FDA continues to regulate GM animals for both agricultural and medical purposes. Whether USDAs effort to retain jurisdiction over GM meat intended for the food supply will be successful is unclear. However, it seems there would be some amount of duplication in determining whether a genetic modification to an animal is safe for purposes of producing food, drugs, new cells, or tissue structures for use in humans. Presumably the agencies will share their relevant scientific expertise in assessing the use of this novel technology and its possible effects on humans. Because state agencies are also heavily involved in the regulation of livestock, it is likely that states will have a view on which federal agency they believe is more capable to set appropriate standards and police activity. It remains unclear when a decision on the ANPRM will be issued and whether the Biden-Harris administration will support the proposed rule.

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USDAs Proposal to Take Back Regulatory Oversight of GM Animals from FDA Remains Viable Despite Change in Administration - JD Supra

Dr Sanju A. Sanjaya received a PhD in 2003 from the University of Mysore, Mysore, India, on tree improvement and biotechnology. That same year, he joined the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center at Academia Sinica, in Taipei, Taiwan as a postdoctoral fellow working on the genetic engineering of orchids and tomatoes, for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. He has worked at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at Michigan State University as a Senior Research Associate on a project focused on increasing energy density in vegetative tissues. His credentials include three patent applications, 20 papers in refereed journals, six published book chapters and eight published reviews.

Dr Sanjayas lab leads an active research program to design photosynthetic organisms with enhanced bioenergy and industrial compounds for higher production, profitability and sustainability. Dr Sanjayas research group uses bioinformatics, biochemical, molecular, cell biology and genetic engineering approaches to understand the primary metabolism mechanisms in plants and microalgae. Dr Sanjayas lab also aims to advance the use of photosynthetic organisms to address water quality issues and phytoremediation.

The West Virginia State University Energy and Environmental Science Institute (WVSUEESI) mission is to conduct basic and applied interdisciplinary research in energy and the environment to generate technology and knowledge.

Our goal is to partner with public and private sectors, so we can work together to address pertinent energy and environmental issues for West Virginia, says WVSUEESI Director, Dr Sanjaya. Those issues include researching the feasibility and sustainability of alternative energy sources for the Mountain State as government regulation and environmental concerns continue to cast resources such as natural gas and coal in the national spotlight.

Those new energy sources include renewable resources from plant-based biomass. Scientists at WVSU conduct ongoing projects focusing on feedstock improvement, biofuels and bioproducts; genomics; bioremediation, environment and sustainability. One project involves increasing the production of plant oils in the biomass of bioenergy crops that can be used to produce biodiesel and replanted onto formerly mined areas to determine how well crops will grow on reclaimed land.

One of the goals of the WVSUEESI is to generate technologies and provide hands-on research opportunities to students and science-based outreach opportunities for K-12 youth; Research and Teaching Graduate Assistantships in the MS Biotechnology Program; the Research Rookies Program in energy-related research; Agricultural and Environmental Science Careers for Non-Traditional Students (AESCONTS) throughout the region in the hope of generating the tomorrows scientists.

Ive always wanted to progress professionally and academically and to enrich my previous experience working with energy and environmental science, Dr Sanjaya explains. One of my biggest interests in being at WVSU is the opportunity to work in a team, with hard-working and smart students and scientific community.

Dr Sanjaya hopes the research will ultimately attract industry and academic partners to the region, enhancing economic development and workforce opportunities.

In addition to his ambitious research, Dr Sanjaya is a true leader in the classroom at WVSU who enjoys interacting with and motivating his students. He goes on to provide further detail: I often bring my students to the lab to do the real work theyre learning about in the classroom. Its a different opportunity for learning because my research is very hands-on.

Ever the visionary, Dr Sanjaya not only hopes his research will motivate West Virginians to stay in the State, but he looks forward to the day that young people will flock to West Virginia to work in science and research.

Dr Sanjaya adds: If my research is even a small piece of the puzzle that helps West Virginia, then I am happy.

As we enter an era where global food production is likely to double as the human population increases, sharing prime agricultural lands and resources for food and energy production becomes an even greater challenge. A breakthrough technology that enables the cultivation of an energy crop on a vast area of marginal lands can address these issues. Dr Sanjaya uses a gene-editing technique called CRISPR that gives him the ability to alter genes in plants, enabling them to grow on mountainous terrain, in soil with low nutrients, and even under drought conditions. This research is considered cutting edge, but has already proven viable in other parts of the world.

Dr Sanjaya then turns the discussion towards current research when it comes to improving the nutritional and energy content of crops. Dr Sanjaya considers why this is necessary for society today and how this incorporates gene technology.

Currently, the majority of the oils used in biodiesel production come from the seeds of plants, Dr Sanjaya comments. Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals. By increasing the energy provided by plants, the land required to grow both biodiesel and food crops could be significantly reduced, he adds.

Plants accumulate oils within the tissue of the seeds to help with the energy-intensive process of germination and growth of new seedlings. By harnessing the mechanism used by the plant to send and store these oils within the seeds, Dr Sanjaya and his team aim to create new breeds of plants that accumulate higher amounts of oils within the rest of the plants vegetative tissue the leaves, stems and roots.

To increase the amount of oils stored in the vegetative tissue of plants, Dr Sanjaya and his colleagues have taken a two-pronged approach. Plants can only capture a finite amount of carbon in any period, so increasing the amount of oils created and stored necessarily requires a reduction in the amount of starch being produced.

First, the researchers used advanced molecular techniques to manipulate the genes involved in producing and accumulating oils called triglycerides using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This flowering plant species is related to mustard, cabbage and radishes and is ideal for testing and refining genetic techniques because of its small size and short generation times.

By increasing the activity of a gene controlling seed oil production, Dr Sanjayas team created a version of the plant that tends to store these oils within the vegetative tissue.

Following this, the team focused on a gene involved in starch production. They found that when this gene was edited to exhibit decreased activity, more carbon was left available to be routed into the production of oils. The resulting plant that possesses both edited genes divides more of the carbon captured during photosynthesis into oils than into starch.

Our long-term goal is to develop energy-dense bioenergy crops that can grow on vast areas of reclaimed coal mine lands of West Virginia and the Appalachian coal basin, Dr Sanjaya comments.

Ultimately, he says, this work could bring sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy-related industry to the State.

FUNDING: USDA NIFA and NSF RIA

Please note: This is a commercial profile

2019. This work is licensed under aCC BY 4.0 license.

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Energy & environment research - Open Access Government

The report on Genetic Engineering Plant Genomics Market aims to provide introductions of the market With latest launches, recent mergers, collaboration with others for promoting the product recently launched, their market revenue and valuation in different regions.The report analyses and evaluates the important industry trends, market size, market share estimates, and sales volume with which Genetic Engineering Plant Genomics industry can speculate the strategies to increase return on investment (ROI). This business report presents comprehensive explanation of market definition, market segmentation, competitive analysis and key developments in theGenetic Engineering Plant Genomics industry.

Competitive Landscape :

The report mentions various industry leaders focusing on researches for maintaining their leading position in the market post pandemic.The report provides snapshots and briefings of key strategies of the companies, which products they offer, their dominating regional presence, their competitors, and their strategies to grow post COVID-19 due slow growth expected by experts. Furthermore, the report also mentions the key growth insights, companies market presence, years of operations, technological aspects, financial strength, geographical presence, etc. Thus, with the report, the market players and stake holders get an outlook about the developing companies for investment opportunities help build their assets.

Market Overview:

Genetic engineering plant genomics refer to the process of development of new plant lines with enhanced genotypic characteristics by crossing two or more plants with the purpose of producing an offspring that shares the required traits of the parent plants. The aim of the method is to characterize, sequence and study of genetic compositions, functions and networks of entire plant genome. The technological advancement is emerging with the increasing demand for better-quality crops.The genetic engineering plant genomics market is expected to witness market growth at a rate of approximately 7.90% in the forecast period of 2021 to 2028. Data Bridge Market Research report on genetic engineering plant genomics market provides analysis and insights regarding the various factors expected to be prevalent throughout the forecast period while providing their impacts on the markets growth. The increasing application of genomics in plant breeding across the globe is escalating the growth of genetic engineering plant genomics market.The increasing demand for improved crop varieties and high quality crop, and surge in plant genome funding fueling the adoption of innovative technologies act as the major factors driving the genetic engineering plant genomics market.

Download Free PDF Sample Report (Including COVID-19 effect Analysis) @https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-genetic-engineering-plant-genomics-market

Key Insight of The Report:

Top Players In Genetic Engineering Plant Genomics Industry :

The major players covered in the genetic engineering plant genomics market report are Eurofins Scientific, Illumina Inc, NRGene, Neogen Corporation, Agilent, LC Sciences.LLC, Traitgenetics GmbH, Keygene, Novogene Co.Ltd, GeneWiz, BGI, Genotypic Technology, ADAMA, Bayer AG, UPL, Corteva, Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial Group Co., Ltd, Nufarm, DuPont, Syngenta AG, VILMORIN & CIE, Corteva, SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED among other domestic and global players. Market share data is available for global, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America separately. DBMR analysts understand competitive strengths and provide competitive analysis for each competitor separately.

KeyQuestions Answered By Report:

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Table of Contents of Genetic Engineering Plant Genomics Market Report:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation by Product

Geographic Landscape

Vendor Analysis

Appendix

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Genetic Engineering Plant Genomics Market- Investment Opportunities With Recent Trends, COVID-19 Impact And Top Players Revenue- Eurofins Scientific,...

Are you happy? is a deceptively complex question to both ask and answer.

Its generally understood that having enough money to cover your needs and wants can help you live a relatively happy, comfortable lifeand recent research shows this relationship may increase linearly as income levels grow, as well.

However, theres much more to it than that. Happiness levels depend not just on financial security, but also broader perceptions of ones social support, personal freedom, and more.

This series of map pulls data from the World Happiness Report to uncover the average scores of 149 countries between 2018-2020, and which ones emerged the happiest or unhappiest. We also look at the most and least improved countries in every region.

First, lets look at the factors used to calculate world happiness levels. Some clear indicators are health and wealth, both metrics that have been steadily on the rise worldwide. The report takes these into account, weighting GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth into the scores.

The report also looks at more intangible aspects, collecting survey responses around:

This year, there was a natural focus on the negative affect measure of the COVID-19 pandemic on happiness levels, such as exacerbating mental health risks. In addition, such measurements varied depending on each countrys response to the crisis.

Worldwide happiness comes in at an average score of 5.5, a marginal improvement since our previous coverage of this report in 2019. Lets dive into regional outlooks for happiness levels.

Current Mood: Happy (6.1)

Canada retains its spot as the happiest country in North America, although its overall global ranking has dropped over the years. In 2019, it was ranked in ninth place globally, dropping to 11th in the 2020 edition, and declining further to 14th place in this years report.

Haiti continues to fare poorly as the unhappiest in the region, with an average annual GDP growth of only 1.3% over 20 years. Its weak economy and political instability have been worsened by the pandemicsetting back efforts to reduce poverty and widening inequality.

Current Mood: Content (5.9)

With the largest middle class in the Americas60% of its populationand a miniscule 0.1% extreme poverty rate, Uruguay is the happiest South American country. The nation has also achieved equitable access to basic services, from education to electricity.

The trio of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela are experiencing different stages of progress in happiness levels, but their relationship is very much interdependent.

Venezuela and Ecuador face similar economic challenges and sharp declines in oil prices. Venezuela is additionally acutely affected by socio-political unrest, triggering a mass exodus of citizens to Ecuador and Colombia alike. The silver lining is that the influx of highly-educated Venezuelan migrants may provide a 2% boost to Ecuadors GDP.

Colombia, the most improved country, has halved its poverty rate in the last decade. In addition, it has welcomed almost 2 million Venezuelan migrants as of Dec 2020and plans to provide them up to 10 years of protective status.

Current Mood: Happy (6.4)

Finland remains at the top of the leaderboard as the worlds happiest country. This years ranking was also influenced by high levels of trust in the way the COVID-19 pandemic was handled.

Meanwhile, the shock of the COVID-19 crisis is expected to be short-lived in Croatia, which is the most improved country. This is partly due to its steady pre-pandemic economic gains, although risks remain.

In the unhappiest country of Ukraine, conflicts continue to cause stress on its politics, security, and economy. In particular, government corruption remains a big public issue.

Current Mood: Its Complicated (5.3)

Saudi Arabia is the most improved country in the region, as it continues to reduce its oil dependence, diversify its economy, and bolster its public services. It has also been making some progress towards gender equality.

The tourism and hospitality industries contribute nearly 20% of Jordans GDPand COVID-19 has caused a prolonged economic decline in the country along with the headwinds of these industries.

Although Afghanistan has seen improvements in access to basic services and its agricultural economy, challenges remain with prolonged conflict and violence. A post-pandemic recovery in the worlds unhappiest country might take several years.

Current Mood: Neutral (5.5)

Both New Zealand and Taiwan saw a successful COVID-19 response and recovery boosting their positions in the global happiness rankings. In fact, New Zealand was the only non-European country to make it into the top 10 on the global happiness list.

Note: As the report only covers 149 countries, Oceania only refers to Australia and New Zealand in this instance.

Although India remains the unhappiest country in the region, it also showed the most improvement overall, possibly due to its increased access to basic services. Notably though, the pandemic caused a sharp economic contraction in real GDP by 23.9% year-over-year in Q12021.

Current Mood: Unhappy (4.5)

In July 2020, the island nation of Mauritius joined Seychelles to become the second high-income country in Africa, helping cement its status as the happiest in the region.

Zambia, the most improved African country, has one of the worlds youngest populations by median agewhich presents long-term opportunities for labor force participation.

On the flip side, agriculturally-reliant Benin struggles with high poverty, with close to 40% of the population living below $1.90 per day.

Zimbabwe, the unhappiest country, has been through not just natural disasters but financial disasters too. It experienced hyperinflation of 786% in May 2020, accompanied by an equally sharp rise in food prices.

Although each country has been uniquely impacted by the pandemic, its clear that on the whole, happiness levels take into account so much more. How will future rankings look like in a post-pandemic world?

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Mapped: Happiness Levels Around the World in 2021 - Visual Capitalist

Turns out, males do have a purpose and yes, it is about sex.

According to a new study, published in Evolution Letters, the male seed beetle helps purge bad mutations and retain good genes through strict competition and sexual selection, increasing the long-term genetic health of a population.

The researchers, led by Karl Greishop of the University of Toronto, Canada, studied 16 genetic strains of the seed beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus) in an intensive breeding program to see how deleterious mutations ones that wont kill you, but might affect health and ability to reproduce affected both males and females.

They found that deleterious mutations affected males more than females, but that this actually increased the genetic population as a whole.

Our study shows that production of males, which may engage in intense competition for the chance to mate, enables faster purging of deleterious mutations from the population, which could thereby enable a healthier set of genes and higher reproductive capacity relative to asexual reproduction, says David Berger of Uppsala University, Sweden.

Read more: The long-term effects of sexual competition

In essence, male beetles with stronger genes outcompeted the males with bad mutations, which were unable to have as many babies and couldnt pass on bad beetle genes that well. The same effect wasnt seen in females, which had just as many babies and were able to pass on deleterious mutations.

This indicates that although these mutations do have a detrimental effect on females reproduction, they are more effectively removed from the population by selection acting on male carriers rather than female carriers, says Grieshop.

Previous research from our group and others has succeeded in showing this effect by artificially inducing mutations, but this is the first direct evidence that it ensues for naturally occurring variants of genes.

That meant that male beetles were responsible for purging bad genes from the mutations, purely because they couldnt pass them on, and the genetically stronger male beetles ended up impregnating more female on their behalf, without the population diminishing.

Read more: Water beetles mate to an evolutionary standstill

When deleterious mutations are purged from a population through rigorous selection in males, resulting in fewer males reproducing, the process can take place with little or no effect on population growth, says Greishop.

This is because relatively few males suffice to fertilise all the females in a population, hence whether those females are fertilised by few males or many males makes little or no difference to the number of offspring those females can produce, especially in species where the male doesnt look after its own offspring.

By contrast, such rigorous selection in females would result in fewer females reproducing, hence fewer offspring produced, which could lead to a massive population decline or even extinction.

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Passing on the good beetle genes - Cosmos Magazine

The lab leak hypothesis about the origin of Covid-19 has been getting a lot of attention lately, and deservedly so. This is the idea that the SARS-CoV-2 virus accidentally escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, that conducts research on coronaviruses. Just a few weeks ago, a group of highly respected virologists and epidemiologists published a letter in the journal Sciencecalling for a more thorough investigation, stating that the lab leak hypothesis was not taken seriously enough in earlier investigations.

The coincidence of having a major virus research facility, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), just a short distance from the live animal food market that was originally believed to be the source of the outbreak is too great to ignore. Even more curious is that WIV was actively doing research on coronaviruses in bats, including the bats that carry a strain of SARS-CoV-2 that is the closest known relative to the Covid-19 virus itself.

From the beginning of the outbreak, attention was focused on WIV, and various conspiracy theorists suggested, without any evidence, that the Covid-19 virus was either intentionally engineered, intentionally released, or both. Let me just say right off the bat that I dont believe either of those claims.

However, I do think the lab leak hypothesis is credible, and its also possible that gain of function research (more about this below) might be responsible.

In arguing against (unsupported) claims that the Chinese released the virus on purpose, a group of virologists published a paper very early in the pandemic, in March 2020, which looked at the genome sequence of the virus and concluded that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus. Other studies since then have come to similar conclusions: the virus is very similar to naturally-occurring coronaviruses, and it is possible that it simply evolved naturally in the wild, probably in bats.

Even so, the lab leak hypothesis remains highly credible, regardless of whether or not the virus was genetically engineered. Heres why. First, we know that lab accidents can happen and viruses can escape, even if these accidents are rare. We also know that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had thousands of viruses, including coronaviruses, in its facility. And despite claims that viruses couldnt possibly have escaped accidentally, a 2017Naturearticle describing the then-new Wuhan Institute reported, perhaps prophetically, that worries surround the [Wuhan Institute of Virology], too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times.

The secrecy of the Chinese government, which has not yet allowed independent, outside scientists full access to WIV to investigate, hasnt helped matters. We need to know if any viruses in WIV are similar to the Covid-19 virus, and at this point we cant trust the Chinese governments assurances on this question. Of course, even if they allow outsiders to investigate now, we cannot know that they have preserved all the viruses that were present in the lab in the winter of 2019-2020.

Now lets talk about gain-of-function research. Gain of function, or GoF, refers to research that tries to make viruses or bacteria more harmful, by making them more infectious. This seems crazy, right? And yet its been going on for years, despite the efforts of many scientists to stop it. In the past, GoF research focused on the influenza virus, and in particular on a small number of scientists (highly irresponsible ones, in my view) who were trying to give avian influenzabird fluthe ability to jump from birds into humans. I wrote about this in 2013, and in 2017, and again in 2019, each time calling on the US government to stop funding this extremely dangerous work. The NIH did put a pause on gain-of-function research for a few years, but the work resumed in 2019.

Now, let me explain why GoF research does not require artificially engineering a virus. Viruses mutate very rapidly all by themselves, and RNA viruses like influenza and SARS-CoV-2 mutate even more rapidly than DNA viruses. So a GoF experiment doesnt need to engineer a virus to make it more infectious: instead, scientists can simply grow a few trillion viral particles, which is easy, and design experiments to select the ones that are more infectious. For example, some GoF research on bird flu simply sprays an aerosol mixture of viruses into a ferrets nose (influenza research often uses ferrets, since you cant ethically do this with people), and waits to see if the ferret comes down with the flu. If it does (and this has been done, successfully), the strain that succeeds now has a new function, because it can infect mammals. The viruses that are artificially selected (as opposed to natural selection) in these experiments will appear completely natural; no genetic engineering required.

We know that WIV was conducting gain-of-function experiments, and we know that its work included coronaviruses. Was the Wuhan Institute of Virology running GoF experiments on SARS-CoV-2 viruses from bats? Possibly. And if it was, these experiments could easily have produced a strain that infected humans. If a lab employee was accidentally infected with such a strain, that could have started the pandemic. And even if SARS-CoV-2 wasnt the subject of GoF experiments, a naturally-occurring strain being studied at WIV could still have infected one of their scientists and thereby leaked out into the population.

Im not saying that any of these events is likely. I am, however, agreeing with the scientists who, in their recent letter toScience, called for a deeper investigation into the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Finally, let me echo a sentiment they expressed in their letter, which is best said by simply quoting them: in this time of unfortunate anti-Asian sentiment in some countries, we note that at the beginning of the pandemic, it was Chinese doctors, scientists, journalists, and citizens who shared with the world crucial information about the spread of the virusoften at great personal cost. Rather than seeking to cast blame, we need to uncover the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, and any behaviors that led to it, as a means to help all societies prevent future pandemics.

Steven Salzberg is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, and Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University. He conducts research on genomics and computational biology. Find Steven on Twitter @StevenSalzberg1

A version of this article was originally posted at the Genomics, Medicine and Pseudoscience blog in the Field of Science Network and has been reposted here with permission. Find Field of Science on Twitter @fieldofscience

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Maybe both sides are right: If SARS-CoV-2 was leaked from a Wuhan lab, it doesn't mean the virus was necessarily engineered - Genetic Literacy Project

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kytopen., a transformative biotechnology company offering non-viral delivery that links the discovery, development and manufacturing of engineered cell therapies, today announced it was awarded a SBIR Fast Track grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Kytopen is eligible for up to $2M over the course of the 3-year award as project milestones are successfully completed within the Phase I and Phase II portions of the grant.

Natural killer (NK) cells represent a high impact population for cell therapy, but due to limitations in current methodologies for gene delivery, NK cells remain a largely untapped resource. This SBIR grant will be used to demonstrate that non-viral delivery via Kytopens Flowfect platform can alleviate this limitation on NK cell gene editing at both research and manufacturing scale, which is needed for pre-clinical and clinical studies. Due to the major potential impact NK cells represent in a clinical setting, non-viral Cas Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) gene knockout will allow for novel therapeutic applications in infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, and immuno-oncology.

Paulo Garcia, Kytopens CEO and Co-Founder will serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant. Dr. Garcia explains that engineered NK cells have tremendous therapeutic promise including the potential to treat solid tumors in an allogeneic modality. The Flowfect platform will facilitate high-throughput target discovery while providing a clear path towards clinical manufacturing of next-generation cell products.

NK cells are a subset of innate immune cells that can respond to threat without antibody priming. This quick response to stimuli makes them an ideal immunotherapy candidate. Yet, genetic modification in NK cells has proven to be difficult using conventional viral and non-viral transfection methodologies. Alternative delivery methods are necessary in order to make genetic modifications at reproducible and efficient rates, while maintaining high cell viability and functionality.

The awarded study leverages continuous fluid flow coupled with low energy electric fields for transfection via a proprietary Flowfect platform (Figure 1). This platform represents a novel approach to non-viral delivery in historically hard-to-transfect human cells. The current research proposes to engineer non-activated NK cells with Cas RNPs for gene editing using the Flowfect platform. To achieve this goal, Kytopen has outlined a two-phase research strategy which focuses on stability and functionality of edited NK cells both in vitro and in vivo.

NIH sponsored grant programs are an integral source of capital for early-stage U.S. small businesses that are creating innovative technologies to improve human health. These programs help small businesses break into the federal research and development arena, create life-saving technologies, and stimulate economic growth. Kytopen is honored to be a recipient of this competitive award from the NIH/NIAID and looks forward to unlocking biological capabilities of engineered NK cells for improving patients lives during the performance of this project.

About the Flowfect Technology

Kytopens proprietary Flowfect platform eliminates the complexity of gene editing and integrates discovery, development and manufacturing in one flexible and scalable non-viral delivery solution. The Flowfect technology utilizes electro-mechanical energy to disrupt the cell membrane and introduce genetic material (such as RNA, DNA, or CRISPR/Cas RNP) to a wide variety of hard-to-transfect primary cells. During the Flowfect process, a solution containing cells and genetic payload suspended in a proprietary buffer flows continuously through a channel while the solution is exposed to a low energy electric field. Due to the continuous flow and low electrical energy required, cells engineered using Flowfect exhibit high viability while also exhibiting high transfection efficiency post-processing. The Flowfect technology utilizes relatively high flow rates enabling cell engineering in minutes for discovery and optimization (e.g. 96 well plate in <10 minutes) and direct scale up to manufacturing volumes of >10mL, engineering over 2 billion cells per minute in a single channel.

About Kytopen

Kytopen, an MIT spin-out, is a transformative biotechnology company that offers a customizable yet scalable multi-solution platform, which seamlessly links the discovery, development and manufacturing phases of cell engineering. Flowfect, a gentle, non-viral delivery method unlocks new therapeutic approaches, by engineering immune cells with minimal disruption, preserving the functionality and viability of human cells and enhancing the cells biology. The Flowfect platform accelerates therapies from the bench to clinical through flexibility and scalability, which drives higher cell yields, faster approvals, and better outcomes from potentially curative cell-based treatments. Kytopens goal is to enable simple and efficient non-viral manufacturing of cell therapies in days versus weeks to increase access to many more patients. For more information, visit: http://www.kytopen.com

Read more:
Kytopen Awarded NIH Grant of Up to $2M to Unlock the Power of Engineered Natural Killer (NK) Cells via Flowfect Platform - Business Wire

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Genome Editing or Genome Engineering Market Market: Latest Innovations, Drivers and Industry Key Events 2021 2027 The Courier - The Courier