CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, announced today that The Scientist magazine named two of its CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tools among the Top 10 Innovations of 2016. The Invitrogen LentiArray CRISPR libraries, introduced in September 2016, ranked #5, while the GeneArt Platinum Cas9 Nuclease earned the #10 spot on the list.
The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a powerful tool for making new discoveries about gene function and is part of Thermo Fisher’s expanding portfolio of precision medicine solutions. For its new LentiArray CRISPR libraries, Thermo Fisher is capitalizing on the power of CRISPR-Cas9 technology for high throughput applications for functional genomics screening. The arrayed CRISPR libraries give researchers a new set of tools to rapidly identify key therapeutic targets and understand complex biological pathways. In addition, Thermo Fisher’s highly purified GeneArt Platinum Cas9 Nuclease in its ribonucleoprotein (RNP) formulation significantly simplifies the cell engineering workflow by eliminating Cas9 transcription and translation in the cell to achieve high cleavage efficiencies while minimizing off-target cleavage.
“Thermo Fisher’s synthetic biology initiative is committed to providing value-adding product designs in high-technology life science areas like genome editing,” said Helge Bastian, vice president and general manager of synthetic biology for Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The newly introduced CRISPR libraries will allow customers to completely knockout entire panels of genes, increasing both the quality and the efficiency of their screening experiments. Our easy-to-use formats of the two most relevant genome editing technologies, TALEN and CRISPR-Cas9, will enable even less experienced users to leverage these highly enabling technologies to gain insights into molecular pathways and gene function in their fields of research.”
LentiArray CRISPR libraries are designed to maximize knockout of the target genes without compromising specificity. The libraries are also designed to be a flexible system that can adapt to the needs of a wide variety of researchers, and they are already being used to discover potentially groundbreaking treatments.
“The LentiArray CRISPR libraries have allowed us to make significant inroads in our research on pediatric cancer, discovering a potentially novel strategy for the treatment of deadly brain tumors,” said Simone Treiger Sredni M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatric neurosurgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Through the use of lenti-viral CRISPR-Cas9 particles, we identified an enzyme that can be inhibited by drugs and has been shown to prohibit tumor cell growth without affecting normal cells.”
“We interacted with many scientists during the development of the LentiArray libraries product line and they confirmed that high-efficiency knockout of the target genes was absolutely critical,” said Jon Chesnut, senior director of R&D for genome editing at Thermo Fisher. “These same scientists said it was equally important that we build a platform adaptable for use with a wide variety of cellular models and assays. Therefore, we made sure that we looked at every aspect of the LentiArray platform to ensure we’re providing researchers with a highly potent and flexible system.”
The LentiArray CRISPR libraries and the GeneArt Platinum Cas-9 Nuclease are Thermo Fisher’s latest additions to a constantly growing list of tools and services for genome editing, including: LentiArray™ gRNAs, TrueGuide CRISPR gRNAs™, GeneArt Precision TALs, GeneArt CRISPR Precision gRNA Synthesis Kits, the CRISPR-Cas9 protein delivery reagent CRISPRMAX™, GeneArt® Genomic Cleavage Detection and Selection Kits, Mammalian Cell Engineering Services, and the GeneArt CRISPR and TAL effector cloud-based Search and Design Tools.
“We are proud that two of the latest additions to our expanding portfolio of genome editing tools are being recognized among the top innovations of 2016. Together with our existing portfolio of RNA interference (RNAi) with Silencer, Silencer Select and mirVana RNAi libraries, Thermo Fisher offers an industry leading portfolio of functional genomics tools that enable our customers to make further progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying normal cellular processes and the on-set and progression of disease states,” added Bastian.
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s new LentiArray CRISPR Libraries are now available for purchase. More information can be found at: https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/genome-editing/geneart-crispr/crispr-libraries.html.
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