OREANDA-NEWS. AstraZeneca today announced four research collaborations aimed at harnessing the power of CRISPR, a pioneering genome-editing technique, across its entire discovery platform in the company’s key therapeutic areas. The technology will allow AstraZeneca to identify and validate new drug targets in preclinical models that closely resemble human disease. AstraZeneca will share cell lines and compounds with its partners and work with them to publish findings of its application of CRISPR technology in peer-reviewed journals, contributing to broader scientific progress in the field. The collaborations complement AstraZeneca’s in-house CRISPR programme and will build on the company’s ‘open innovation’ approach to research and development.

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a genome-editing tool, which allows scientists to make changes in specific genes far faster and in a much more precise way than ever before. The technology has two components - a homing device to a specific section of DNA (guide-RNA) and enzymatic ‘scissors’ that cut DNA (Cas9 nuclease). In the cell nucleus, the guide-RNA sequence directs the Cas9 nuclease to cause double-stranded breaks in the target DNA sequence. By harnessing the cell’s own DNA-repair apparatus, the gene being targeted can be altered either by deleting it, adding nucleotides to it or by turning its activity on or off. In contrast to previous genome-editing techniques, such as zinc-finger nucleases and TALENs, CRISPR is easier to handle in the laboratory.

Dr. Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, Innovative Medicines & Early Development, AstraZeneca, said: “CRISPR is a simple yet powerful tool that enables us to manipulate genes of potential importance in disease pathways and examine the impact of these modifications in a highly precise way. By combining the great science from our labs with these world-renowned academic and industry partners, we will be able to integrate this ground-breaking technology into our research and help accelerate the discovery of novel treatments for patients.”