A Cell publication details results from HuidaGene's first-in-human trial of a CRISPR base-editing gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, confirming that one boy died after receiving a high dose. The study found the treatment edited some target genes in the four participants but produced only limited therapeutic effect, while the boy who died suffered a severe immune reaction beginning with abdominal pain and fever within 24 hours of dosing.
nature.com
· 2026-10-27
Palmer Luckey and Ben Lamm have started a company called Warhound that plans to use gene editing and cloning to create healthier, more capable working dogs for the U.S. military. The company expects to produce its first puppies by 2027.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-23
Researchers from two independent teams, publishing in Science and Cell, used CRISPR-based gene editing to introduce and track mutations in dividing mouse embryo cells, reconstructing cell lineage maps. One team traced a two-week-old embryo back to a single fertilized egg, while the other recorded most cell divisions during organ formation. The work echoes John Sulston's 1980s cell-by-cell mapping of the roundworm C. elegans, but extends the approach to mammals, whose development involves billions of cells and external influences rather than a fixed pattern.
nature.com
· 2026-10-08
Researchers have developed a gene-editing approach that restricts edits to particular cells depending on their position or context within tissue, rather than editing indiscriminately. The technique aims to limit changes to only the intended cell population, reducing effects on surrounding cells.
nature.com
· 2026-10-02
Cathy Tie, 30-year-old founder of Origin Genomics—a company launched in March to bring gene-edited embryos to IVF clinics—published a commentary in Trends in Genetics urging public funding and new regulatory pathways for germ-line editing research and eventual clinical use. The push follows the 2018 case of He Jiankui, who was imprisoned after creating the first gene-edited babies, and comes despite bans on embryo editing for pregnancy in dozens of countries.
wired.com
· 2026-09-30
Anthropic announced on September 23 that its Claude AI model, running roughly 950 agents simultaneously, identified a gene-editing enzyme system with properties similar to Crispr within 21.5 hours. The company says the system's function remains unknown, and only one physical experiment has been reported so far in a non-peer-reviewed technical paper.
wired.com
· 2026-09-29
Colossal Biosciences has revealed the genetic engineering process it used to create living wolf pups carrying about 20 edited DNA segments associated with extinct dire wolves. The company says the underlying technology, rather than the pups themselves, represents the more significant advance, since it can be applied broadly to reconstruct extinct genetic traits in living animals.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-29
Norwich-based Tropic has developed a gene-edited banana that resists browning for an extra day or two after peeling, using CRISPR-Cas9 to suppress three copies of the gene behind the polyphenol oxidase enzyme. CEO Gilad Gershon said the fruit is already grown in Latin America and has regulatory approval in 10 countries including Japan, Brazil and the Philippines, and is now nearing UK supermarket shelves.
science.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-29
Anthropic said a system of 950 AI agents spent 21 hours scanning DNA sequence databases and flagged an uncatalogued repeating pattern around a known enzyme, comparing it to the pattern that led to CRISPR. Biologists pushed back, including a biologist whose viral post was endorsed by Eli Lilly's CEO, arguing that spotting a gene cluster is far easier than determining what it actually does. A University of Copenhagen researcher who regularly used Claude said his team had already identified the same pattern, raising questions about whether Anthropic's system had drawn on his prior work.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-28
Anthropic reported that its Claude AI model identified a previously undocumented enzyme system that structurally resembles the Cas9 protein used in CRISPR gene editing. The company acknowledged it cannot yet confirm what functions the newly flagged system actually performs.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-24
Anthropic announced that its in-house wet biology lab, using its Claude AI model, identified a previously unknown enzyme system found in bacteriophage DNA that can cut, copy and paste DNA similarly to CRISPR. CEO Dario Amodei said the work took Claude about 21 hours using roughly 950 agents and 210 million tokens, and credited the discovery mostly, though not entirely, to the AI, while noting it builds on prior research including a similar Stanford finding.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-23
Anthropic reported that its Claude AI agents autonomously identified a previously uncharacterized enzyme system in bacteriophages after scanning a large DNA sequence database. The company said nearly 950 Claude agents ran for 21 hours, processing 210 million tokens, before flagging an unusual repeating pattern that human researchers then confirmed through lab testing. Anthropic likened the finding's underlying mechanism to that behind Crispr, though it says the enzyme's function is still being studied.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-23
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