AstraZeneca PLC Hooks Up With Four Top R&D Institutions for CRISPR R&D

January 29, 2015
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

AstraZeneca PLC announced today that it has agreed to four research collaborations to utilize CRISPR, its pioneering genome-editing technique, across its discovery platform in key therapeutic areas. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, The Innovative Genomics Initiative, Thermo Fisher Scientific , and the Broad Institute have partnered with AstraZeneca on this initiative.

CRISPR, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, allows its users to make changes to specific genes faster and more precise than ever before. The technology has a homing device to a specific section of DNA, as well enzymatic “scissors” designed to cut DNA.

“CRISPR is a simple yet powerful tool that enables us to manipulate genes of potential importance in disease pathways and examine the impact of these modifications in a highly precise way,” said Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of Innovative Medicines & Early Development at AstraZeneca. “By combining the great science from our labs with these world-renowned academic and industry partners, we will be able to integrate this ground-breaking technology into our research and help accelerate the discovery of novel treatments for patients.”

Progress in the Realm of Bacteria
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News reported in September 2014 that MIT scientists had been experimenting with CRISPR to eliminate antibiotic resistance.

Through their research, the scientists had been able to improve the survival rate of moth larvae that had been infected with harmful bacteria. They intend to move their experiments up to mice to further explore the efficacy of their work. Lead Scientist Timothy Lu hopes that their work thus far will help build a more advanced approach to removing unwanted bacteria from humans.

“This platform allows you to discover the combinations that are really interesting, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you why they work well,” Lu told the news source. “This is a high-throughput technology for uncovering genetic combinations that look really interesting, and then you have to go downstream and figure out the mechanisms.”

Lu went on to tell the news source that as his team’s work continues, they strive to contribute to the urgent search for new treatments against drug-resistant bacteria.

Within the study, the authors wrote that small molecule antibiotics have the potential reinvigorate the pipeline for new antimicrobials.

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