Never underestimate RNA or lowly creatures

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RNA interference, mRNA vaccines, RNA-guided editing. These are just some of the fields of biomedical research that have exploded in recent years and brought RNA out of the projected shadow of the most famous nucleic acid: DNA. Credit for the ongoing scientific and technological revolution goes to researchers such as Thomas Cech, who have been able to look beyond the double helix and, in many cases, have earned Nobel prizes (the latest being Katalin Karikό for the anti-Covid vaccine). But we also owe a nice gratitude to the strange critters who first exhibited some unexpected phenomena that later became of universal interest.  

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Where ag genetics goes (in Italy and beyond)

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Four intense days of talks and discussions on the present and future of agricultural genetics. We will be there at the round table “Social impact of plant biotechnologies: challenges and opportunities” (12 September afternoon). See the full program here.

Meet Vittoria Brambilla: they tried to destroy it, but her CRISPR field lives on

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Vittoria Brambilla starting the first CRISPR field trial in Italy in May 2024 (Credit ALC)

The start of the first field trial with an edited plant had been greeted with joy by Italian scientists (here is the announcement in Nature Italy). However, less than two months after planting, unknown persons vandalized the harmless rice plants, Science reported. Fortunately, all was not lost: some plants survived, and with them the hope of completing this experiment and starting new ones. We talked about this with Vittoria Brambilla, who together with Fabio Fornara developed the edited rice at the University of Milan and obtained permission to study it outdoors to see how resistant it is to a fungal infection (rice blast). Please find the interview on the Italian site Agriscienza.

An RNA bridge for genome design

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When small tweaks aren’t enough and massive DNA interventions are needed, a new biotech tool inspired by a peculiar class of jumping sequences may come to the rescue.
Barbara McClintock discovered mobile genes in the 1940s, and since then these transposable elements have never ceased to amaze.

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A petition for CRISPR fields in Italy

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This year Italy authorized the first field trial with an edited plant, a rice variety modified to resist a fungus. The trial was vandalized, but enough plants were saved to continue with reduced goals. Now the Italian Parliament should confirm the regulatory window that made the application possible for next year as well. No experimentation can run out after just one year, and there are many more plants developed in Italy with the New Genomic Techniques that deserve to be tested in the field. This is why the Luca Coscioni Association for Freedom of Scientific Research is collecting signatures and addressing the Parliament. I have signed, you can do so too at this link.

India’s way to CRISPR cures

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Uditi Saraf died before receiving treatment, but efforts launched for her could help spell a happy ending for other patients awaiting advanced life-saving therapies

Uditi Saraf with her mother. Credit: Rajeev and Sonam Saraf

Familial encephalopathy with neuroserpin inclusion bodies is a rare neurodegenerative disease with no cure due to the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain. Depending on the specific mutation, the age of onset can vary greatly. In Uditi Saraf’s case, the first symptoms started early, at age 9. As she worsened, her parents decided to have her genome sequenced, identifying the genetic defect and diagnosing the condition. Their race against time to try to save their daughter was chronicled in an article in Nature, which also offers a glimpse into India’s efforts to make genomic treatments more accessible (see also Nature Biotechnology on gene and cell therapies in the Global South).

Shock and sadness after destruction of Italy’s first CRISPR field

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Having attended the festive launch of the first field trial of a CRISPR plant developed in Italy on May 13, we share the dismay of the scientists behind the project – Vittoria Brambilla and Fabio Fornara of the State University of Milan – over the destruction tonight by unknown ecoterrorists of the harmless seedlings, which represented hope for sustainable agriculture and innovative research in our country. The official press release follows. Here are a few links for further reading.

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