Empowered Patient Podcast Unlocking the Power of CRISPR Technology for Drug Development with Ross Bundy CRISPR QC
Ross Bundy, President and CEO of CRISPR QC, shines a light on the current state of CRISPR gene editing technology and how the field has advanced rapidly since the discovery of CRISPR's potential to edit the human genome. The focus of CRISPR technology has primarily been on curing rare and genetic diseases, but there is also potential for targeting cancer tumors' resistance to chemotherapy and the development of customized therapies for various indications. The services offered by CRISPR QC include a unique sensor platform and data analytics capability to monitor and control the gene editing process. The company aims to create a database of information to improve the understanding and control of CRISPR chemistry. The CRISPR Chip is a new semiconductor technology that integrates carbon electronics to analyze complex biological processes.
Ross explains, "What we find is that it can be very difficult to get that chemistry to target exactly in the right place. We don’t know yet how much the right amount is. Is it too much, too much? Is too little, too little? How do we get all these correctly into the cell? How do we deliver them to the right place? Sometimes CRISPR edits in the wrong place, it can edit multiple places across the genome, the target, and a few other places we don’t want to edit, and the cell goes and repairs it, and now we’ve changed the DNA somewhere else. So we definitely don’t want that. If we’re going to edit DNA, we want to edit just the part we want, and we don’t want to change anything else. So, the challenge today is that we don’t know exactly how this chemistry works. It is still a very new field."
"We’re saying, can we open up that black box and say, here’s all the gears and all the levers, all the buttons, and the pharma companies can now then precisely control this chemistry and deliver the result that they want. So that’s what we’re able to start doing for the field. This is the maturation of a new science coming out, proving it’s capable, and now moving to an industrial process. We’re helping transition that industrial process."
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