Current efforts at reprogramming T cells for therapeutic purposes rely on using recombinant viral vectors. Unfortunately, viral vectors do not target transgenes to specific genomic sites. Moreover, the manufacturing and testing of effective viral vectors is often a lengthy and expensive process, which slows research progress and clinical use. However, recent studies have shown that re-engineering T cells in a specific and efficient manner is possible using homology-directed repair (HDR).

 

Details:

• Date: 1st Nov 2018
• Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM EST
• Venue/Platform: Online
• Speaker: Theodore Roth, MD/PhD student, Marson Lab, UCSF. Graduated from Stanford with a BS in Biology and an MS in Biomedical Informatics. Currently, under MD and PhD training at UCSF, with interest in Immunology, Genetics, Informatics, and Genome Editing in the context of Cellular Therapeutics.

 

You will learn:

• The advantages of using HDR versus recombinant viral vectors when modifying T cell genomes.
• How long double-stranded and single-stranded DNA can serve as a non-viral HDR template.
• A novel method that allows for the insertion of large DNA sequences (>1Kb) without a virus!