Software company receives CRISPR funding
11 Mar 2016 by Evoluted New Media
Desktop Genetics Ltd and the Epigenetics Unit at Imperial College London have received a £300,000 grant to develop specific CRISPR editing.
Desktop Genetics Ltd and the Epigenetics Unit at Imperial College London have received a £300,000 grant to develop specific CRISPR editing.
The grant, from Innovate UK, will be used to develop software tools to design CRISPR/Cas9 targets for cancer cell line at the epigenetic level. It is hoped this will improve chemotherapy and combat drug resistance.
Professor Brown, chair of translational oncology in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial, said: “This project will combine the best elements of epigenetic research, bioinformatics and CRISPR to create a tool that solves a real problem in the field of oncology.”
The software tools will translate omics-based information – genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic datasets – into CRISPR targets. Due to epigenetics role in tumours it is intended this research will have potential applications for all types of cancer.
Professor Brown added: “The approach of epigenetic editing using CRISPR can potentially target precise epigenetic changes in a personalised manner to specific genes to make tumour cells more sensitive to chemotherapy drugs. Such targeting will avoid some of the non-specific side effects in cancer and normal cells caused by current epigenetic therapies.”
Leigh Brody, director of genomic services at Desktop Genetic said he hoped an integrated omics approach to CRISPR would support small molecule therapies modifying the epigenetic landscape.
