• Kathy Niakan is a developmental biologist, working in human developmental and stem cell biology. (wikipedia.org)
  • Kathy Niakan obtained a BSc in cell and molecular biology and a BA in English literature from the University of Washington. (wikipedia.org)
  • In 2021, Professor Kathy Niakan was appointed as an honorary group leader in the Epigenetics research programme as part of the Babraham Institute. (wikipedia.org)
  • The aim of the research, led by Crick Group Leader Dr Kathy Niakan, is to understand the genes human embryos need to develop successfully. (crick.ac.uk)
  • The discovery only three years ago of a precise gene-editing tool (known as CRISPR-Cas9) has revived that debate yet again, not least with the first application, by Kathy Niakan of the Crick institute , to use CRISPR experimentally (not therapeutically) on very early human embryos. (mattridley.co.uk)
  • Dr Kathy Niakan (pictured), from the Francis Crick Institute in London, wants to use a new technique called CRISPR/Cas9 to "edit" genes in day-old human embryos left over from IVF in order to discover what role they play in normal embryo development. (blogspot.com)
  • The research team will be led by Dr Kathy Niakan at the Francis Crick Institute in London and hopes to further our understanding of the genes involved in a human embryo developing successfully into a healthy baby. (geneblitz.com)
  • The research team led by Kathy Niakan will attempt to find out the genetic problems that lead women to miscarry repeatedly. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • Dr Kathy Niakan from the Francis Crick Institute, who led the research, adds: "One way to find out what a gene does in the developing embryo is to see what happens when it isn't working. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • Kathy Niakan and colleagues are providing new understanding of the genes responsible for a crucial change when groups of cells in the very early embryo first become organised and set on different paths of development. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • But lead scientist Dr Kathy Niakan said that the research could fundamentally change our understanding of human biology and give hope to prospective parents. (redice.tv)
  • A spokesman for the HFEA said: "Our Licence Committee has approved an application from Dr Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute to renew her laboratory's research licence to include gene editing of embryos. (redice.tv)
  • The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has renewed Crick group leader Kathy Niakan 's licence to edit human embryos, allowing her team to continue their research into early human development. (crick.ac.uk)
  • Developmental biologist Kathy Niakan has received permission from the UK HFEA to edit the genome of embryos. (bioedge.org)
  • Developmental biologist Kathy Niakan has received permission from the UK Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to edit the genome of human embryos using the new CRISPR technology. (bioedge.org)
  • Doudna shares the recognition with Emmanuelle Charpentier at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT , Carl June at the University of Pennsylvania, and Kathy Niakan at the Francis Crick Institute in London. (lbl.gov)
  • Francis Crick Institute in London will be the establishment to carry out the first gene editing in the human embryo. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • We were surprised to see just how crucial this gene is for human embryo development, but we need to continue our work to confirm its role" says Dr Norah Fogarty from the Francis Crick Institute, first author of the study. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • Niakan, a researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London, plans to investigate the genetic make-up needed for an embryo to develop into a healthy baby. (bioedge.org)
  • When you change one thing, something else gets changed, too," said Feng Zhang, one of the inventors of the gene-editing technique CRISPR. (cnn.com)
  • Scientists recently were gifted a new technique in gene editing called CRISPR-Cas9 (CRISPR is an acronym for 'clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats) and it is adopted by several laboratories worldwide because it's faster, cheaper, simple enough to use with minimal training, and allows altering of multiple genes simultaneously. (kkartlab.in)
  • Researchers hope to use CRISPR for diseases like sickle cell, correcting the faulty gene in someone's own blood-producing cells rather than implanting donated ones. (kkartlab.in)
  • The University of Massachusetts just reported using a CRISPR technique to switch off, rather than cut and repair, a gene in muscle cells that causes one form of muscular dystrophy. (kkartlab.in)
  • The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority (HFEA) has given its approval for studies using the gene-editing technique CRISPR to be used in human embryos. (geneblitz.com)
  • Niakan plans to use CRISPR to study a series of genes thought to be involved in early embryonic development. (geneblitz.com)
  • A CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology that has shown promise in clearing HIV from mice is headed into human testing. (genomics.ca)
  • It is the first medicine licensed anywhere that works by deploying gene editing that uses the "genetic scissors", known as CRISPR, for which its inventors won the Nobel prize for chemistry. (genomics.ca)
  • So it's not a huge surprise that, apparently , twin girls have been born in China with a specific gene, CCR5, eliminated, using the technique CRISPR/Cas9. (unherd.com)
  • These problems mean that only about 20-30% of attempts to edit human genomes are successful, at least on trials of CRISPR for thalassaemia, which similarly involved knocking out a single gene. (unherd.com)
  • They were chosen for their roles in the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, a revolutionary tool that promises cures for many heritable diseases. (lbl.gov)
  • Deep sequencing followed by abundancy ranking pinpointed six top hit genes potentially associated with either improved or impaired endodermal differentiation, which were selected for functional validation in CRISPR-Cas9 mediated knockout (KO) lines. (mdpi.com)
  • Heidi Ledford's June 25, 2020 article (Note: Links have been removed) for Nature focuses on three studies (not yet peer-reviewed) that viewed together suggest CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) gene-editing is less like using a pair of scissors to cut out unwanted mutations and more like using a catalyst (a chemical agent which increases chemical reactions) and getting unanticipated and unwatned reactions. (frogheart.ca)
  • A suite of experiments that use the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to modify human embryos have revealed how the process can make large, unwanted changes to the genome at or near the target site . (frogheart.ca)
  • F requent loss-of-heterozygosity in CRISPR-Cas9-edited early human embryos by Gregorio Alanis-Lobato, Jasmin Zohren, Afshan McCarthy, Norah M.E. Fogarty, Nada Kubikova, Emily Hardman, Maria Greco, Dagan Wells, James M.A. Turner, Kathy K. Niakan. (frogheart.ca)
  • If we knew the key genes that embryos need to develop successfully, we could improve IVF treatments and understand some causes of pregnancy failure. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • We would really like to understand the genes that are needed for an embryo to develop into a healthy baby," she told a briefing in central London last month. (redice.tv)
  • If we were to understand the genes, it could really help us improve infertility treatment and provide crucial insights into the causes of miscarriage. (redice.tv)
  • In addition to her pioneering research, Professor Niakan has engaged with policy makers, funders and the public to provide expert advice on genome editing. (wikipedia.org)
  • Plus, school students take on the whipworm genome, the surprising genetic diversity of Papua New Guinea, and a gene of the month that's up all night. (thenakedscientists.com)
  • Researchers have used genome editing technology to reveal the role of a key gene in human embryos in the first few days of development. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • This is the first time that genome editing has been used to study gene function in human embryos, which could help scientists to better understand the biology of our early development. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • The team used genome editing techniques to stop a key gene from producing a protein called OCT4, which normally becomes active in the first few days of human embryo development. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • Dr Niakan said: "If you imagine the genome as volumes in an encyclopaedia, at some point in the development some of the cells will start to read a different volume compared to its neighbour cell. (redice.tv)
  • A recent approach is to evaluate at the whole genome level the genes reported to be associated with dyslexia phenotypes. (uw.edu)
  • The world's first gene editing trials were conducted in California using the ZFNs technique created by Sangamo Biosciences of Richmond, California. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • The genetic study showed promising results in "silencing" the genes that translate into tau protein, the primary component behind dementia. (medicaldaily.com)
  • The more recent discovery that traits such as intelligence are caused by the complicated interaction of multiple genes of small effect means that it is anyway going to be virtually impossible to decide what genetic recipe to recommend to somebody who wants a clever child, or a good-looking one, or an athletic one. (mattridley.co.uk)
  • This new genetic engineering technique is going to revolutionize medicine, according to scientists working in the field, because it gives humankind a powerful tool to edit, delete, add, replace, activate or suppress specific genes. (kkartlab.in)
  • Humans can, theoretically, change the genetic basis of various traits and correct disease causing mutated genes. (kkartlab.in)
  • Although gene editing to treat some genetic disease in fully developed human beings appears to have huge promise (such as in the case of Layla Richards who was saved from terminal leukaemia in London last year), gene editing in embryos (germline gene editing) has come in for huge criticism internationally (see also here ) and has so far only been attempted (unsuccessfully) in China. (blogspot.com)
  • A bacterium undergoing a viral attack produces genetic material which matches the gene sequence of the hostile virus. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • Gene editing tools will allow fresh insights into the basic genetic mechanisms that control cell allocation in the early embryo. (bioedge.org)
  • Genetic abnormalities which result in implantation failure (either in IVF or naturally) or miscarriage are chromosomal abnormalities, not abnormalities in single genes. (bioedge.org)
  • Mosaic results after preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy may be accompanied by changes in global gene expression. (ivi-rmainnovation.com)
  • On the basis of the unlimited capacity to be propagated in vitro , iPSCs are good targets for genetic manipulation by gene therapy or gene correction by homologous recombination. (biomedcentral.com)
  • She plans to start with a gene called Oct 4, which is thought to have a critical role in embryo development, using 20-30 donated embryos. (blogspot.com)
  • Kathy's research focuses on the first 14 days of embryo development, looking at the key genes and factors that tell the cells in the embryo what to do. (crick.ac.uk)
  • In studies initially focused on roles of nonmuscle myosin IIA (NMIIA) in the developing mouse epidermis, we have discovered that a previously described cytokeratin 5 (K5)-Cre gene construct is expressed in early embryo development. (shengsci.com)
  • He has had long-standing interests in the biology of stem cells, in how genes work in the context of embryo development, and how decisions of cell fate are made. (royalsociety.org)
  • mecC MRSA represent a recently recognised form of MRSA, encoding a divergent mec gene, which can colonise and cause disease in humans and a wide range of other host species [ 8 ]. (biomedcentral.com)
  • In order to detect MRSA isolates, the mec A gene was amplified through the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. (biomedcentral.com)
  • The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, virulence genes, and antimicrobial susceptibility of the direct repeat units ( dru ) types of MRSA with SCC mec IIIA isolated from burn wounds in a burn care center in Tehran, Iran. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Other concerns have focused on the CCR5 gene, which scientists at the conference said is crucial to the human immune system. (cnn.com)
  • After that, a gene named CCR5 was removed which is used by HIV to infiltrate the cells. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • That's because CCR5, the gene that has apparently been eliminated, is involved in resistance to HIV. (unherd.com)
  • But only abnormalities in single genes can be fixed with gene editing of the sort that the Crick Institute is proposing. (bioedge.org)
  • In 2005, Niakan obtained her PhD in stem cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she worked in the laboratory of Edward McCabe. (wikipedia.org)
  • gene under the vaccinia early/late p7.5 promoter (provided by B. Moss, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A.) and is inserted into the viral thymidine kinase (TK) gene by homologous recombination as previously described (23). (tech-strategy.org)
  • Some parts of our DNA are highly active during this stage but how our genes are guiding early embryonic development is poorly understood. (geneblitz.com)
  • Despite genetically modifying human embryos being hugely controversial, with fears of designer babies and irreversibly altering the human gene pool, the proposed research could lead to a massive step forward in understanding early embryonic development. (geneblitz.com)
  • We have used conditional gene deletion of mouse β-catenin in Sox17-positive embryonic and extra-embryonic endoderm as well as vascular endothelial progenitors to address the function of canonical Wnt signalling in cell lineage formation and patterning. (biologists.com)
  • The committee has added a condition to the licence that no research using gene editing may take place until the research has received research ethics approval. (redice.tv)
  • In February 2016 Niakan was given the go-ahead by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to genetically modify human embryos. (wikipedia.org)
  • However Niakan argues that the genes she wishes to study are sufficiently different from their equivalents in animals to justify doing the research on human embryos. (blogspot.com)
  • Niakan is arguing that her research will provide a deeper understanding of the earliest moments of human life and could reduce miscarriages: 'The reason why it is so important is because miscarriages and infertility are extremely common, but they're not very well understood. (blogspot.com)
  • The UK is the first country that has allowed gene editing in human embryos. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • Excision's news arrives the same week that Intellia announced a gene editing therapy for acute myeloid leukemia had been cleared for human trials by the FDA. (genomics.ca)
  • All cells in a human embryo have the same DNA code, but they divide into specialised cells depending on gene expression. (redice.tv)
  • Fluorescent images showing gene expression in early human embryos, where blue is each cell of the embryo, green is the OCT4 gene, red is the NANOG gene and yellow is overlapping expression showing cells that eventually give rise to the embryo proper or fetus. (crick.ac.uk)
  • A gene-editing experiment on human embryos went horribly wrong. (tomorrowsci.com)
  • Learning more about how different genes cause cells to become and remain pluripotent will help us to produce and use stem cells more reliably. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • Scientists have long been able to find defective genes. (kkartlab.in)
  • With gene editing, scientists home in on a piece of DNA and use molecular tools that act as scissors to snip that spot -- deleting a defective gene, repairing it or replacing it with precision. (kkartlab.in)
  • Now we have demonstrated an efficient way of doing this, we hope that other scientists will use it to find out the roles of other genes. (nihr.ac.uk)
  • The scientists want to deactivate genes in leftover embryos from IVF clinics to see if it hinders development. (redice.tv)
  • If scientists knew which genes were crucial for healthy cell division, then they could screen out embryos where their DNA was not working properly, potentially preventing miscarriages and aiding fertility. (redice.tv)
  • The focus of Dr. Raskind's research is the study of neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral disorders, both single gene and complex in etiology. (uw.edu)
  • A major endeavor is to identify genes involved in mendelian (single-gene) neurologic diseases, including ataxias, movement disorders, and neuropathies. (uw.edu)
  • 4 ] quantified the proximity between disease genes and drug targets based on a protein interaction network to discover new indications for 900 U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs. (e-enm.org)
  • The embryo on the right has been edited to prevent the OCT4 gene from functioning. (crick.ac.uk)
  • Niakan was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in April 2016. (wikipedia.org)
  • There are frequent "off-target effects" - basically, unwanted mutations introduced by the procedure - and "chimeras", where some of the cells in the embryo are successfully edited, but others aren't, so you end up with a patchwork embryo, half-full of cells which still have the gene you wanted to remove. (unherd.com)
  • Previous experiments have revealed that the tool can make 'off target' gene mutations far from the target site, but the nearby changes identified in the latest studies can be missed by standard assessment methods. (frogheart.ca)
  • Mice carrying floxed alleles of the nonmuscle myosin II heavy chain gene (NMHC IIA(flox. (shengsci.com)
  • The Babraham Institute pioneers world-changing scientific developments, and focuses on cellular signalling, gene regulation, immunology, and the impact of epigenetic regulation at different stages of life. (wikipedia.org)
  • Shortly afterwards, the original experimental protocol was replicated and optimized by several laboratories, confirming that iPSCs share the gene expression profile, epigenetic modifications, and proliferation rates as well as the pluripotency of ESCs [ 3 ]. (biomedcentral.com)
  • In 2013, Niakan became a group leader at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London. (wikipedia.org)
  • Altering genes in sperm, eggs or embryos can spread those changes to future generations, so-called germline engineering that might one day stop parents from passing inherited diseases to their children. (kkartlab.in)
  • Gene editing promises a bright future, free of deadly diseases. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • We have generated cell and animal models to investigate the pathogeneses of these diseases an have a particular interest in the effect of different pathogenic variants on gene function. (uw.edu)
  • The discovery of genes - effectively in 1900, when Gregor Mendel's work was disinterred - made the selective breeding of people much harder than Francis Galton, the founder of eugenics, had expected. (mattridley.co.uk)
  • Others have voiced their concerns about the potential use of the gene editing technique for eugenics. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • Britain's drugs regulator has approved a groundbreaking treatment for two painful and debilitating lifelong blood disorders, which works by "editing" the gene that causes them. (genomics.ca)
  • Moreover, the PCR method was applied to determine SCC mec types, virulence genes, and antimicrobial resistance genes. (biomedcentral.com)
  • There were significant differences between clusters I and II respecting antimicrobial resistance pattern and virulence genes. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Methicillin resistance is encoded by the mec A gene. (biomedcentral.com)
  • In 2011, a second gene, mec C has been discovered that also causes methicillin/beta-lactam resistance. (biomedcentral.com)
  • This was because it meant that "undesirable" traits could be hidden in healthy people ("recessive" genes) for generations. (mattridley.co.uk)
  • Germline DNA alterations refer to the gene changes that can be passed down to generations. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • Editas Medicine, a Boston-based enterprise is aiming to conduct clinical experiments of their gene-editing treatment for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA10) by 2017. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • The clinical trials of two forms of gene editing are already being conducted. (wonderfulengineering.com)
  • The precise levels and timing of NR0B1 gene expression are critical for gonadal differentiation and sex determination during embryogenesis [ 1 ]. (oncotarget.com)
  • Most studies of systematic drug repositioning have used drug-oriented data such as chemical structures, gene expression patterns, and adverse effect profiles. (e-enm.org)
  • This approach should help to determine which genes are critical to which specific types of tissues in the early embryo. (geneblitz.com)
  • The initial pilot, which will also have to pass an ethics evaluation, will involve up to 30 embryos and the team would like to work on a further three genes, which could bring the total of to 120. (redice.tv)
  • There are strong advocates for the research in Britain (see here and here ) and an international collaboration (the Hinxton group) has made an earlier call for bans on germline gene editing to be lifted (see critique here ). (blogspot.com)
  • The laboratory also has a strong interest in identification of genes responsible for dyslexia. (uw.edu)
  • They aimed to correct a deadly inherited gene, but uncovered problems that will require more research. (kkartlab.in)
  • By clipping out a gene of interest and then observing the developing embryo, the researchers should be able to track which types of cells continue to grow and develop. (geneblitz.com)