Researchers used artificial intelligence to design functional CRISPR enzymes not seen in nature.

A PhD student loves research, but not the realities of experimenting on animals. What are their options?

Casey Dunn's laboratory in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.

To understand cancer, it’s not enough to know which genes are active. We also need to know where they turn on and how they influence the cells around them. A new project funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will bring Yale Genetics professors Siyuan (Steven) Wang and Mandar Muzumdar closer to answering that question. Bringing together Wang’s expertise in image-based genomics and spatial multi-omics with Muzumdar’s leadership in cancer biology and advanced in vivo models, their teams will develop powerful new tools to investigate tumors in their native tissue environments. By combining state-of-the-art spatial transcriptomics technology with high-throughput genetic screening their platform will generate genome-wide maps of tumor gene expression in situ at single-molecule resolution and interrogate the functional role of cancer genes in shaping the tumor microenvironment. Ultimately, these technologies could uncover new disease mechanisms and accelerate the discovery of diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers. This endeavor builds on Wang and Muzumdar’s previous collaborative effort to map changes in 3D genome architecture during tumor progression. This ground-breaking work, published in Nature Genetics, defined stage-specific changes in the 3D genome as cancers progress from normal to preinvasive and ultimately to invasive tumors.   Congratulations to Professors Wang and Muzumdar on this exciting venture—and on advancing a bold, collaborative approach to understanding cancer. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/enxrPg7H Read the Nature Genetics paper:  https://lnkd.in/eDAYJRCt #YaleGenetics #CancerResearch #SpatialTranscriptomics #Genomics #TumorMicroenvironment #TeamScience #NationalCancerInstitute

What will it take to turn genetic therapies designed for a single patient into a scalable path for treating rare diseases? In a new Comment in Nature Genetics, Caroline Hendry and Yong-hui Jiang of the Department of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine examine the FDA’s new draft plausible mechanism framework for individualized therapies targeting rare genetic diseases. Together with Jiangbing Zhou of Yale Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering, they assess both the promise of this framework and the groundwork needed to put it into practice. They argue that the guidance is best understood not as a green light, but as a detailed map of the work ahead—including building robust natural history data, validating biomarkers and assays, characterizing delivery platforms, defining patient-centered outcome measures, and developing scalable manufacturing infrastructure. Their perspective highlights the importance of early collaboration among researchers, regulators, clinicians, patient communities, foundations, and industry to realize the potential of individualized genetic medicines. Read the Comment in Nature Genetics: https://lnkd.in/ezvnXfxZ #YaleGenetics #RareDisease #GeneTherapy #GenomeEditing #PrecisionMedicine

YouTube video by Yale Medicine