The advent of the CRISPR-CAS9 technique gives researchers the ability to make precise changes to the DNA of, theoretically, any living organism that has DNA. That precision is particularly meaningful for treatment of diseases caused by well-known faults in genes — otherwise incurable diseases such as sickle cell anemia, the fatal lung disorder cystic fibrosis, and the blindness-causing Leber congenital amaurosis. CRISPR-Cas9 could be a way to prevent or reverse those disorders.
Assistant Professor and BIONATES theme PI Krishanu Saha along with J. Benjamin Hurlbut, Assistant Professor, Human Dimensions at Arizona State University and Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of Science and Technology at Harvard University co-authored a recent article for Issues in Science and Technology making the case for how far scientists should go in researching and applying CRISPR to editing the human germline.
Krishanu Saha, principal investigator in BIONATES, along with Sheila Jasanoff of the Harvard Kennedy School and J. Benjamin Hurlbut from Arizona State University weigh in on moratoriums for germline gene engineering for this Guardian op-ed piece.
Systems Biology scientist Sushmita Roy finds and predicts trends in biological networks. Her toolkit includes computer science programs, blogs and other bright minds in the Discovery Building.
