Yet More CRISPR

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University of California's Fresh CRISPR Patent Could Revive Gene-Editing Row

The University of California (UC) will soon gain its third patent on the gene-editing technology knows as CRISPR, four years after it entered into a legal battle with the Broad Institute due to a crossover between patents filed by the two parties.

UC has obtained a notice of allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office, meaning the patent will likely be received in eight weeks. CRISPR is a natural mechanism that prokaryotes use to defend themselves against viruses. Prokaryotes are unicellular organisms whose cells lack membranes. Eukaryotes are multicellular and their cells have membranes.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system, developed first by the University of California, combines CRISPR with Cas9 – a protein – to create a molecular tool. This tool can pick out and cut specific sections of a gene, removing it from the genetic sequence. It can be used to remove faulty genes that result in undesirable mutations.

Because of this, patent rights to the technology are likely worth millions of dollars as it can revolutionise the treatment of diseases and assist with genetically modifying crops. CRISPR-Cas9 has proved to be more efficient that other gene-editing technologies.

The new patent was awarded to UC in collaboration with Emmanuelle Charpentier of Umeå University and Krzysztof Chylinski of the University of Vienna. According to the university’s CRISPR lead patent strategist Eldora Ellison, the newer version of CRISPR is more careful about where the genetic sequence needs to be cut.

According to Reuters, the fresh patent stems from an application filed in 2012 by microbiologists Jennifer Doudna of the University of California at Berkeley and Charpentier.

This application was the first ever for a CRISPR-related patent. The scientists discovered that CRISPR-Cas9 could be used to edit the DNA of prokaryotic cells.

The Broad Institute, a research centre affiliated to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, also applied for their own patent that could edit the DNA of eukaryotic cells...

Full story at https://thewire.in/the-sciences/university-of-californias-fresh-crispr-patent-could-revive-gene-editing-row