SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (October 18, 2018) Today, Mission Bio, Inc., a pioneer in single-cell DNA analysis and precision genomics, announced its participation in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Genome Editing Consortium, a first-of-its-kind organization established to address the need for increased confidence in genome editing technologies. Spanning academia, industry, non-profit and government, Mission Bio’s marquee technology, the Tapestri™ Platform, provides unprecedented insight into key features of gene editing at the single-cell level.
Gene editing technologies such as CRISPR hold enormous promise for treating disease. But recent studies have warned about the dangers of unintended genome alterations and how they could negatively impact patient outcomes. Altering genetic material is complex, and researchers need to be able to verify that the intended edit is correctly executed at the intended target within each single cell. Current methodologies for analyzing mutation changes rely on bulk sequencing, which lacks the resolution and specificity necessary to reliably measure the outcomes of gene editing procedures and therefore risk improper analysis.
NIST has assembled leading experts across the genomics field to form the Genome Editing Consortium. The organization will be working to establish a set of standards in the research and commercialization of the genomics industry, with the aim of increasing confidence in utilizing genome editing technologies. Goals of the Consortium include:
- Creating a common lexicon for genome editing studies, as well as standard data formats
- Establishing baseline information reporting requirements for public studies
- Qualifying genomic assays used to evaluate genome editing outputs
- Developing reference materials for on-target and off-target editing
Mission Bio joins the consortium with the only single-cell DNA analysis platform, enabling unparalleled insight into the precise changes happening within and across each cell. Tapestri™ uses a novel microfluidics approach to isolate and analyze single cells within a sample population. This technology is uniquely capable of measuring zygosity, mutational co-occurrence and rare cell populations for on- and off-target events providing the information necessary to optimize editing systems and use them safely. This level of precision is particularly essential to CRISPR manipulation, where studies have shown safety risks as a result of off-target edits, with the potential for genetic damage.
“The founding of the NIST Consortium is a major step forward in the genomics field. We’re excited and honored to provide our technology and contribute to the work of this organization,” said Charlie Silver, CEO of Mission Bio. “When it comes to gene editing, the devil is in the details, so to speak. Through the application of single-cell DNA analysis, we can measure and better understand the impact of gene editing experiments across every cell of a sample.”
Mission Bio joins the Consortium alongside Bluebird Bio, Editas Medicine, Lonza, Bio-Rad, Massachusetts General Hospital, IDT, DowDupont Agroscience, Corteva, Macrogen, Novartis, Applied StemCell, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Caribou Biosciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific, CRISPR Therapeutics, Intellia Therapeutics, KromaTiD, Precision Biosciences and New England BioLabs.
The announcement comes on the heels of the recent publication in Genome Research of a first-of-its-kind study demonstrating the efficacy and utility of Mission Bio’s proprietary single-cell DNA analysis technology.
To learn more about Mission Bio and how it’s moving precision medicine forward, visit missionbio.com.
About Mission Bio:
Mission Bio helps researchers and clinicians unlock single-cell biology to enable the discovery, development, and delivery of precision medicine with Tapestri, the Precision Genomics Platform. Tapestri provides industry-first single-cell DNA analysis capability to enable the accelerated and accessible detection of genetic heterogeneity within and across cells populations for applications in oncology, immunology, and genome editing. The platform includes an instrument, consumables and software, which plug seamlessly into existing NGS workflows. With Mission Bio, researchers have a highly sensitive, targeted, and customizable solution to move precision medicine forward.
Media Contact:
Kathryn Ryan
VSC for Mission Bio
missionbio@vscconsulting.com
(631) 255-5281
