Partnering Opportunities at IMBA

SCONs - Short Conditional intrONs FOR ONE-STEP GENERATION OF CONDITIONAL ANIMAL MODELS

Gene knockouts (KO) in cells or animals have made substantial contributions to understanding molecular biology. For essential or developmentally active genes, a conditional knockout (cKO) strategy is often required to elucidate their functions. To prevent potential developmental or other unwanted physiological effects, the expression level of such targeted genes needs to be unaffected. This remains a major, unresolved challenge. “SCONs” (Short COnditional INtrons) were developed to overcome these limitations and are based on genomic integration of the SCON within an exon. SCONs do not interfere with natural gene function or expression level and do not display hypomorphic effects. Upon transcription, an additional splicing event takes place which removes the inserted SCON, reconstituting the original mRNA sequence. The conditional knock out is induced by a recombinase-based genomic event which partially removes the SCON and destroys its function.  IMBA is actively seeking licensing partners with business interests in the field of animal model generation or novel CRISPR applications, to further exploit applications for the SCON technology.

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CRISPR SWITCH: INDUCIBLE SGRNA EXPRESSION FOR TIGHTLY REGULATED, EFFICIENT & SAFER CRISPR/CAS9 GENOME EDITING

CRISPR/Cas9 provides an easy, efficient and affordable tool for site-specific manipulation of genomes. Despite its promising characteristics, the technology needs further improvement, e.g. with regard to efficiency, regulation and reduction of off-target effects. To address these challenges, IMBA and Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities GmbH (VBCF) scientists have developed CRISPR switch (i.e. optimised sgRNA expression cassettes) to facilitate (i) tight ON and OFF switches of sgRNA expression, (ii) OFF switches without deletion of the guiding sequence for easy sgRNA target identification, (iii) consecutive sgRNA expression for studying aspects such as synthetic lethality, temporal order of lesions in tumour progression, etc. Importantly, CRISPR switch is compatible with variations of CRISPR such as CRISPR-a, CRISPR-i and others.  IMBA is looking for licensing partners with business interests and R&D programs in the field of CRISPR/Cas9, i.e. screening, mutation analysis, safer genome editing, multiplexing and/or somatic gene therapy. 
 

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Link to Research Group
Link to Vienna Biocenter Core Facilities (VBCF)
Link to Scientific Publication