Therapeutic gene delivery to the human genome
Directed evolution of a sequence-specific targeting technology for therapeutic gene delivery to the human genome.
NIH funds our research to investigate directed evolution of a sequence-specific targeting technology for therapeutic gene delivery to the human genome. This grant aims to overcome issues with current gene-editing technologies that insert genes randomly, possibly causing gene disruption and cancer. Techniques like CRISPR aren’t effective in cells that don’t split or for moving large DNA pieces. But, the method that our collaborator, Dr. Jesse Owens, is working on can safely place big DNA chunks into any cell type in the body.
Our lab’s initial job is to use advanced language models to study the Integrases, which help attach DNA into the host cell genome, to beter understand which mutations boost Integrase’s effectiveness and which ones don’t.