Italian Food for Thought

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Food for Thought is a coalition of 18 Italian associations in the agrifood sector, established in 2017 to promote innovation in agriculture. Today, nearly eight years after the first manifesto, a new one has been presented to address the challenges of both the present and the future, including the climate crisis, geopolitical tensions, and changing consumption patterns.
The event was held yesterday in Rome at the initiative of Senator Bartolomeo Amidei, as part of the activities of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Made in Italy and Innovation.
Among the key points is the inclusion of New Genomic Techniques — a clear sign that there is widespread awareness within the Italian productive sector of the importance of genetic improvement, and that there are voices in the national Parliament willing to advocate for “innovative and sustainable agriculture.”

Gene drives: the first book by a pioneer

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Italy has a strong tradition in malaria research, and it’s noteworthy that one of the most innovative tools to fight this disease in the future was developed with the crucial contribution of an Italian scientist. Andrea Crisanti has become a familiar face in the country due to his expertise in COVID-19 epidemiology and numerous TV appearances, first during the pandemic and later in his role as a senator. Yet his international reputation is more firmly rooted in a different field: the development of CRISPR-based strategies to eliminate malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.

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Evolving a new CRISPR system to insert genes

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evoCAST (credit: George Lampe)

Recently, David Liu won the Breakthrough Prize for inventing two tools for precise, small-scale genome editing (base editing and prime editing). However, in some cases, rather than correcting a mutation within a defective gene, it may be more practical to insert a fully functional copy of the gene. That’s the mission of evoCAST, the latest invention from the Broad Institute near Boston, a hub for next-generation CRISPR tools.

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Xenotransplants Edge Closer to Reality

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There is still no consensus on the best way to humanize pig organs, but recent progress has convinced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to greenlight the first clinical trial.

The trial will begin enrolling six participants, and could expand to 44 if early results are promising. A six-month survival after the xenotransplant will be considered a success indicator, although it’s unclear how many patients will need to reach this milestone to win the agency’s approval.

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Baby KJ is a symbol of hope — But is it replicable?

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The personalized editing therapy developed at record speed for the American newborn required preliminary studies, favorable circumstances, and a heroic collective effort.

After 307 days, little KJ Muldoon was discharged from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), wearing a tiny graduation outfit complete with a blue gown and cap. Born ten months ago with a severe metabolic disorder, the baby received a genome editing therapy developed exclusively for him, and his remarkable progress has been hailed by many as the dawn of a new era in precision medicine. A month after the publication of his case in the New England Journal of Medicine, we take a closer look at how researchers managed to develop the treatment in just six months—and whether this breakthrough could be replicated for other rare disease patients in need of life-saving therapies.

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Will edited plants be patentable in EU?

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A year after the European Parliament voted to ban patents, EU countries still seek a compromise on NGT regulation

The revision of the regulatory framework for genetically modified plants currently underway in Europe aims to keep pace with technological advances and support the development of sustainable agriculture. The scientific community, the seed industry, and major farmers’ associations view the overall framework positively, but the devil is still in the details.

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First CRISPR treatments in Italy

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Italy has begun administering the first CRISPR-based treatment. The therapy for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia (Casgevy) has already been delivered to four patients across three clinical centers within a month. The announcement was made during the conference “Italian Primacy in the Treatment of Hemoglobinopathies” held yesterday at the Senate.
For more information, we recommend Francesca Ceradini’s article in Osservatorio Terapie Avanzate.

Emma and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes

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Oncologist Emil Lou and patient Emma Dimery

Emma Dimery was 23 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Over the next decade, she tried everything in vain: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and conventional immunotherapy. That changed in March 2023, when she received an infusion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) edited with CRISPR at a key gene checkpoint, CISH. Since then, she has been in complete remission, with no detectable traces of the tumor.

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Gene drives and the ethics of extinction

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Since its origins, Homo sapiens has driven many species to the brink of extinction—and sometimes irreversibly beyond it. We have done so to feed, defend, colonize, cultivate, and enrich ourselves—often without fully realizing it. To do so today, deliberately, in an era of biodiversity treaties and conservation efforts, might seem absurd or extreme. Yet there is no shortage of organisms deemed highly harmful to human health or the environment. Under what conditions might it be justifiable to eliminate them using genetic technologies? Do we have the right to erase another life form from the face of the Earth?

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