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The gene-editing of super-ego.
New emerging biotechnologies, such as gene editing, vastly extend our ability to alter the human being. This comes together with strong aspirations to improve humans not only physically, but also mentally, morally, and socially. These conjoined ambitions aggregate to what can be labelled "the gene editing of super-ego." This article investigates a general way used to argue for new biotechnologies, such as gene-editing: if it is safe and efficacious to implement technology X for the purpose of a common good Y, why should we not do so? This is a rhetorical question with a conditional, and may be dismissed as such. Moreover, investigating the question transformed into a formal argument reveals that the argument does not hold either. Nonetheless, the compelling force of the question calls for closer scrutiny, revealing that this way of arguing for biotechnology is based on five assumptions. Analysis of these assumptions shows their significant axiological, empirical, and philosophical challenges. This makes it reasonable to claim that these kinds of question based promotions of specific biotechnologies fail. Hence, the aspirations to make a super-man with a super-ego appear fundamentally flawed. As these types of moral bioenhancement arguments become more prevalent, a revealing hype test is suggested: What is special with this technology (e.g., gene editing), compared to existing methods, that makes it successful in improving human social characteristics in order to make the world a better place for all? Valid answers to this question will provide good reasons to pursue such technologies. Hence, the aim is not to bar the development of modern biotechnology, but rather to ensure good developments and applications of highly potent technologies. So far, we still have a long way to go to make persons with goodness gene(s).
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Probing 3D genome by CRISPR/Cas9.
CRISPR/Cas9 system has significant advantages in gene editing strategy, offering cost-effective and efficient means to modify and edit the genomes of animals, plants, and microorganisms. Three-dimensional (3D) genome is an emerging and interdisciplinary field catapulted by combined technological breakthroughs of chromosome conformation capture with next-generation sequencing and live imaging with super-resolution microscopy. An important aspect of 3D genomics is to model structural variations and label specific genomic fragments to investigate the effects of manipulation of genomic elements on gene expression regulation, cell development and differentiation, and spatial location of chromosomal regions. Therefore, CRISPR/Cas9 system and its derivative technologies of DNA-fragment editing are excellent toolboxes for investigating dynamics and functions of the higher-order chromatin organization and three-dimensional genome structure. In this review, we describe the opportunities and challenges of CRISPR as well as its derivative technologies in 3D genome research, thereby providing some critical references and future research directions in the field.
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[Advances in AAV-CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Hemophilia A Gene Therapy --Review].
Hemophilia A(HA) is an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder caused by mutations in coagulation factor VIII. Nowadays, exogenous coagulation factor replacement therapy is the main treatment. With the continuous development of gene therapy, new research directions have been provided for the treatment of hemophilia A. CRISPR-Cas9 technology was applied to select suitable target sites, and mediate the targeted knock-in and efficient expression of exogenous B-domain-deleted FⅧ variant gene through corresponding vectors for the treatment of hemophilia A.CRISPR-Cas9 technology is an emerging gene editing tool with great efficiency, safety and effectiveness, and has been widely used in hemophilia gene therapy research. This paper reviews the vector selection, construction of therapeutic genes, gene editing technology and selection of expression target sites for hemophilia A gene therapy at this stage.
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CRISPR-Cas9-Edited SNCA Knockout Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Dopaminergic Neurons and Their Vulnerability to Neurotoxicity.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related disorder with selective dopaminergic (DA) neuronal degeneration in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The presence of mainly α-synuclein-composed Lewy bodies in DA neurons is among the disease hallmarks in the brain of patients with PD. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are powerful tools to investigate PD pathophysiology and understand its molecular and cellular mechanisms better. In this study, we generated an α-synuclein-null hiPSC line introducing a nonsense mutation in the α-synuclein-encoding SNCA alleles using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9)-mediated gene editing. Our Western blotting analysis revealed the lack of α-synuclein protein expression in SNCA knockout hiPSC-derived cells. In addition, SNCA knockout hiPSCs retained healthy cell morphology, undifferentiated marker gene (e.g., NANOG, POU5F1, and SOX2) expression, and differentiation ability (based on the marker gene expression levels of the three germ layers). Finally, SNCA knockout hiPSC-derived DA neurons exhibited reduced vulnerability to the DA neurotoxin, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium. In conclusion, the SNCA knockout hiPSC line we generated would provide a useful experimental tool for studying the physiological and pathological role of α-synuclein in PD.
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Effects of centrifugation treatment before electroporation on gene editing in pig embryos.
Genetic mosaicism, characterized by multiple genotypes within an individual, is considered an obstacle to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in animal models. Despite the various strategies for minimizing mosaic mutations, no definitive methods exist to eliminate them. This study aimed to enhance gene editing efficiency in porcine zygotes using CRISPR/Cas9, which targets specific genes through centrifugation and zona pellucida removal before electroporation. Centrifugation at 2000 × g did not adversely affect blastocyst formation rates in zygotes electroporated with gRNA targeting the GGTA1 gene; instead, it led to increased total and monoallelic mutation rates compared with control zygotes without centrifugation. However, the groups had no significant differences in biallelic mutation rates. In zygotes electroporated with gRNA targeting the CMAH gene, centrifugation treatments exceeding 1000 × g significantly increased both biallelic mutation rates and mutation efficiency. The combination of centrifugation and zona pellucida removal did not have a detrimental effect on blastocyst formation rates. It led to a higher rate of double biallelic mutations in embryos targeting both GGTA1 and CMAH compared to embryos without centrifugation treatment. In summary, our results demonstrate that pre-electroporation treatments, including centrifugation and zona pellucida removal, positively influenced the reduction of mosaic mutations, with the effectiveness of centrifugation depending on the specific gRNA used.
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Applications of CRISPR/Cas9 Technology in the Treatment of Lung Cancer.
Since its emergence, the application of CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) technology in cancer research has accelerated studies to investigate many aspects of treatment approaches for lung cancer, including the identification of target genes, construction of animal tumor models, and identification of drug resistance-related genes. Moreover, CRISPR/Cas9 can be used in gene therapy for lung cancer, specifically involving molecular targeted drugs and inhibitors. This article reviews the current landscape of CRISPR/Cas9 applications for lung cancer treatment as a basis for further studies. Given its promising performance, in-depth and systematic research on the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in lung cancer treatment will be necessary in future studies for its successful implementation in clinical practice.
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CRISPR/Cas9-Based Genome Editing in the Filamentous Fungus Glarea lozoyensis and Its Application in Manipulating gloF.
Glarea lozoyensis is an important industrial fungus that produces the pneumocandin B0, which is used for the synthesis of antifungal drug caspofungin. However, because of the limitations and complications of traditional genetic tools, G. lozoyensis strain engineering has been hindered. In this study, we established an efficient CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing tool in G. lozoyensis SIPI1208. With this method, gene mutagenesis efficiency in the target locus can be up to 80%, which enables the rapid gene knockout. According to the reports, GloF and Ap-HtyE, proline hydroxylases involved in pneumocandin and Echinocandin B biosynthesis, respectively, can catalyze the proline to generate different ratios of trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline to trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline. Heterologous expression of Ap-HtyE in G. lozoyensis decreased the ratio of pneumocandin C0 to (pneumocandin B0 + pneumocandin C0) from 33.5% to 11% without the addition of proline to the fermentation medium. Furthermore, the gloF was replaced by ap-htyE to study the production of pneumocandin C0. However, the gene replacement has been hampered by traditional gene tools since gloF and gloG, two contiguous genes indispensable in the biosynthesis of pneumocandins, are cotranscribed into one mRNA. With the CRISPR/Cas9 strategy, ap-htyE was knocked in and successfully replaced gloF, and results showed that the knock-in strain retained the ability to produce pneumocandin B0, but the production of pneumocandin C0 was abolished. Thus, this strain displayed a competitive advantage in the industrial production of pneumocandin B0. In summary, this study showed that the CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing tool is efficient for manipulating genes in G. lozoyensis.
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Harnessing CRISPR-Cas9 for Epigenetic Engineering.
Epigenome editing has become more precise and effective by coupling epigenetic effectors to the dCas9 protein and targeting regulatory regions such as promoters and enhancers. Here, we describe a basic methodology for performing an epigenome editing experiment, starting from gRNA design and cloning to transiently transfecting the gRNA plasmid and the CRISPR/dCas9-based epigenetic effector and finalizing with chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) to validate changes in epigenetic state at a targeted genomic region.
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Evolution of Prime Editing Systems: Move Forward to the Treatment of Hereditary Diseases.
The development of gene therapy using genome editing tools recently became relevant. With the invention of programmable nucleases, it became possible to treat hereditary diseases due to introducing targeted double strand break in the genome followed by homology directed repair (HDR) or non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) reparation. CRISPR-Cas9 is more efficient and easier to use in comparison with other programmable nucleases. To improve the efficiency and safety of this gene editing tool, various modifications CRISPR-Cas9 basis were created in recent years, such as prime editing - in this system, Cas9 nickase is fused with reverse transcriptase and guide RNA, which contains a desired correction. Prime editing demonstrates equal or higher correction efficiency as HDR-mediated editing and much less off-target effect due to inducing nick. There are several studies in which prime editing is used to correct mutations in which researchers reported little or no evidence of off-target effects. The system can also be used to functionally characterize disease variants. However, prime editing still has several limitations that could be further improved. The effectiveness of the method is not yet high enough to apply it in clinical trials. Delivery of prime editors is also a big challenge due to their size. In the present article, we observe the development of the platform, and discuss the candidate proteins for efficiency enhancing, main delivery methods and current applications of prime editing.
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CCR5 as a Therapeutic Target in HIV Disease: From CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing to Maraviroc-Mediated Inhibition.
The C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) is the principal co-receptor for R5-tropic HIV-1 and remains one of the most promising therapeutic targets in the pursuit of an HIV cure. The discovery that individuals carrying the naturally occurring CCR5Δ32 mutation exhibit marked resistance to HIV infection established the foundation for both genetic and pharmacological approaches to CCR5 inhibition. This review summarizes recent advances in CCR5-targeted therapies with a focus on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing and maraviroc-mediated receptor blockade. We discuss the molecular mechanisms, preclinical evidence and emerging clinical data supporting CRISPR-based CCR5 disruption, including multiplex editing strategies designed to overcome viral tropism switching. We also examine the evolving role of maraviroc beyond viral entry inhibition, highlighting its immunomodulatory effects, potential latency-reversing activity and applications in graft-versus-host disease and cancer. Together, these complementary strategies underscore the potential of CCR5-targeted interventions as integral components of future combination therapies aimed at achieving durable HIV remission or functional cure.
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