Every major scientific progress can not be achieved without the dedication and efforts of countless scientists for decades. Just as in 1953, James Dewey Watson and Francis Harry Compton Crick revealed the double helix structure of DNA, which opened the magnificent history of modern molecular biology and won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine.
However, many years later, in this legendary discovery journey, people found that there was another female scientist, Rosalind Franklin, whose contribution could not be ignored. A recent survey of Nature found that Rosalind Franklin may also have mastered the spiral structure of DNA, and the world also needs to award her a Nobel Prize, which she deserves to share with Watson and Crick.
Si people have passed away, and it is still impossible to fully confirm the right and wrong. The wheel of history moves slowly, and similar technology and copyright disputes are still unfolding, this time falling on Zhang Feng.
Who is the first person to eat crabs?
"I don't want to submit just because the results are ready to be published. I hope to wait until we have made significant progress before publishing articles, rather than just being the first."
The publisher of the above ambitious remarks is none other than Zhang Feng, one of the most eye-catching Chinese biological scientists. Because of the invention of " God's scissors "---- CRISPR, a gene editing tool, has become a scientific star. However, the technical copyright dispute in CRISPR has always been Zhang Feng's trouble.
2011 Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna jointly opened the discovery path of CRISPR mechanism.
2012 In the test tube, they reproduced what CRISPR system can do in bacteria - cut the target DNA, and found that this system can cut any DNA molecule at the finger location after being modified, providing infinite possibilities for subsequent gene editing.
2013 George Church of Harvard Medical School, Zhang Feng of the Bode Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Qi Lei of the Center for System and Synthetic Biology of the University of California, San Francisco successfully applied CRISPR/Cas system to mammalian cell gene editing.
October 2020 Two scientists, Emmanuel Carpentier and Jennifer A. Dudenner, who are believed to have developed CRISPR gene editing technology for the first time, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Source: Nobel official website
Obviously, the work timeline of these scientists is full of coincidences and overlaps, so who is the first person to eat crabs?
In the patent ownership recognition system, the United States Patent Office stipulates that patents are granted to the first invention or the first person who conceives new things. Zhang Feng proposed that he had the idea of using Cas9 in animal genomes and human cells in 2011 。 Therefore, Zhang Feng used the experimental record book as evidence to prove that their laboratory belonged to the first unit (which thought of or invented) of CRISPR gene editing technology.
This tug of war about who is the first developer is full of silent smoke. Under the current "filing priority" application system, patents may be granted to Dudena and Carpentier. However, under the more practical traditional system of "invention first", Zhang Feng, as one of the inventors in 2014, successfully obtained a technical patent by "editing plant and animal genomes using CRISPR".
However, the University of California, Berkeley, filed a complaint against the above decision, believing that Dudenner and Carpendier had made a key breakthrough in CRISPR as early as 2012, clarifying the roles played by different components in the CRISPR complex system, while Zhang Feng's success in animal cells was just an extension of their work standing on their shoulders.
The dispute over technology and patent copyright ended temporarily after Dudena and Carpentier won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. However, no matter which of these top scientists is right or wrong, It can be seen that the era of CRISPR has officially arrived!
The future of CRISPR gene editing technology
Some time ago, The first gene editing therapy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration 。 Company founded by Zhang Feng Editas Medicine As the owner of the relevant patent, he will gain a lot in the next few years and become a "lying winner".
According to statistics, including Editas Medicine, Zhang Feng has participated in the establishment of 8 companies , almost reaching the level of creating one new company every year. Most of the research fields focused by the company point to hot scientific issues such as gene editing and base editing. Thanks to advanced technology and Zhang Feng's celebrity effect, the market is very fond of these companies.
Next, let's take a look at the rapid development of gene editing from Zhang Feng's commercial landscape.
Editas Medicine
Editas Medicine is the first gene editing therapy company co founded by Zhang Feng in September 2013. Its initial partners include Nobel Prize winners Jennifer Doudna, George Church, David Liu and J. Keith Joung. At present, the company's research focuses on: In vivo gene editing drugs, in vitro gene editing drugs and cell therapy drugs.
In 2015, the company reached a strategic cooperation with Juno Therapeutics, combining CRISPR/Cas9 technology with Juno's experience in creating chimeric antigen receptors and high affinity T-cell receptor therapies, and committed to tackling cancer. On February 2 of the next year, the company was officially listed, and the initial public offering raised $94 million. Business value was once highly sought after.
Arbor Biotechnologies
In 2016, Zhang Feng, together with David Walt, David Scott, Winston Yan and others, founded Arbor Biotechnologies, which is committed to developing New gene editor to develop personalized gene editing system for diseases to break through genetic problems that cannot be corrected by traditional technology 。
By 2022, the company has raised more than 300 million dollars.
Beam Therapeutics
In 2017, Zhang Feng co founded Beam Therapeutics with David Liu and J. Keith Joung. The company With CRISPR and primer editing, the possibility of miss effect was innovatively reduced 。
In the IPO in February 2020, the company raised $180 million. In January 2022 of the next year, Pfizer and Beam Therapeutics announced their cooperation in developing CRISPR therapy for rare diseases.
At present, the company has been listed.
Pairwise Plants
In 2017, Zhang Feng and others established Pairwise Plants, a food startup, to help people live a healthy and full life.
The company Focus on combining gene editing technology, crop science expertise and data technology To cultivate rare fruits and vegetables and contribute to healthy diet.
Sherlock Biosciences
In 2019, Zhang Feng and several scientists jointly founded Sherlock Biosciences, committed to Develop and use CRISPR-Cas13 diagnostic tests 。
In 2021, Sherlock Biosciences and Forsyth Institute will establish a strategic partnership between R&D and "Human biomarker detection in oral and other oral health applications" Relevant application products.
Proof Diagnostics
In May 2020, Zhang Feng and others established Proof Diagnostics. The company is committed to efficient and rapid detection of COVID-19.
Area Therapeutics
In 2021, Zhang Feng and others founded the company Area Therapeutics, which is dedicated to solving the problem of gene editing in vivo delivery.
Recently, Zhang Feng, Grail and former executives of Illumina jointly founded a company—— Moonwalk Therapeutics , which received financing of US $57 million, The company aims to develop treatment methods for various diseases, especially chronic and aging related diseases.
It can be seen from the main businesses of these companies that gene editing technology has been integrated with various disciplines, and has also played a unique advantage and role in different disease fields.
In 2022, Professor Dudenner put forward the future outlook of CRISPR technology at a conference, and elaborated on the four major development directions of CRISPR technology: it will provide a thorough cure method for more diseases, catalyze the era of "spot therapy", help faster diagnosis and drug discovery, and regard CRISPR technology as a prevention tool.
In January 2023, Professor Dudena's team published a review paper, proposing that gene editing technology provides new hope for developing cells and gene therapy, treating and even curing diseases. For example, the first gene editing therapy for sickle cell anemia (SCD) is expected to be approved by FDA in 2023.
Image source: Science
At one time, Zhang Feng's friend suffered from serious depression, was deeply mired in emotion, and often lingered on the edge of suicide. Zhang Feng spent a lot of energy to help, but his friend eventually dropped out of school due to illness. Zhang Feng was greatly touched and determined to devote himself to scientific research to find a better therapy to overcome mental diseases.
Nearly half of the researchers in Zhang Feng Laboratory are devoted to brain science research. Zhang Feng said that, with the help of genetics, he understood and conquered mental diseases, and carried out gene editing technology to promote breakthrough progress in autism, depression, schizophrenia and other serious mental diseases, which is the driving force for his continuous progress.
Similarly, the clinical application of gene editing at the embryonic level is the most effective, direct and fundamental treatment strategy to tackle the above serious genetic diseases, such as Mediterranean anemia, Huntington's disease, sickle cell anemia and hemophilia, which pose a major threat to human health but have no effective treatment plan. At present, in terms of R&D investment of pharmaceutical companies and biomedical start-ups involved in the field of gene therapy, genetic diseases have obtained the most research resources and funds, second only to cancer.
It can be predicted that the next 10 years will be the era of gene editing technology, and the field of gene editing will make brilliant achievements under the promotion of machine learning, live cell imaging, faster DNA sequencing and other technologies!
Finally, it should be pointed out that gene editing technology has brought a new picture for human health, and has brought great opportunities for in-depth understanding of biology, especially the development of early human embryos. Establish relevant cooperation environment and mechanism, so that genome editing can achieve maximum efficiency in medicine and biology transparently and efficiently, with humanistic care, so as to benefit human society.
reference:
Self-organization of the in vitro attached human embryo.[J]. Deglincerti Alessia;;Croft Gist F;;Pietila Lauren N;;Zernicka-Goetz Magdalena;;Siggia Eric D;;Brivanlou Ali H.Nature,2016.
New Insights into Early Human Development: Lessons for Stem Cell Derivation and Differentiation [J]. Janet Rossant;;Patrick P.L. Tam.Cell Stem Cell,2017.
