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Sherlock Biosciences can take the name of its CRISPR-based diagnostic technology, but the company will not remain elementary.
Its launch with $ 35 million and a two-pronged approach to improve the current state of diagnoses, with the goal of creating new tools that "go further, where testing is not done today, but should l & # 39; to be. "
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has licensed two CRISPR technologies from Harvard and the Broad Institute, cleverly named SHERLOCK and INSPECTR, ceded from Specific High-Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing and the cassette translation reaction. Internal Splint-Pairing expression, respectively. .
Rather than making therapeutic modifications to the genome, SHERLOCK checks the presence of certain nucleic acid sequences, such as those appearing in the Zika virus. SHERLOCK is a Cas13a-based CRISPR system that targets RNA rather than DNA, and does not stop cutting after reaching the target. It also cuts any nearby RNA, a feature that can be used to indicate that the target is present.
The synthetic biology platform INSPECTR produces a similar signal, but does it in a different way. It uses two halves of an expression cassette that bind to complementary sequences of the target nucleic acid. They then fuse to form a DNA strand subjected to transcription and translation, that is, RNA DNA, which then encodes a protein, such as a fluorescent protein that signals the presence of target.
RELATED: CRISPR-based Dx could become a quick way to detect Zika and other infections
Working with both platforms gives Sherlock "many chances to succeed" and allows the company to adapt its tools to the best possible application, or even combine both.
The company describes SHERLOCK as "ultra sensitive" and needs a small piece of equipment to maintain its temperature. It may be better for on-site testing in emergency care facilities or hospital emergency rooms, Sherlock CEO and co-founder Rahul Dhanda said in an interview.
But INSPECTR is instrumentless and stable at room temperature. It is carried out on a test system on paper and could be useful in the domains of the army, the health of the consumer or the weak resources, diagnostic equipment much less sophisticated than that proposed by this other Holmes (Theranos' Elizabeth) .
"Our team has the expertise and technology needed to transform diagnostics with a powerful set of engineering biology tools for rapid test design and deployment, an essential element to meet the needs of today." many health care needs, including the growing problem of resistant bacteria, "said co-founder Deborah Hung, MD, Ph.D., in a statement.
"After the first experiments, our tools were quickly used in many geographical areas with real patient samples, confirming that we can respond quickly to urgent health care needs," Hung added.
Licensing both technologies also enhances Sherlock's business outlook: "In looking at the landscape, we realized that single-platform companies are often doomed to becoming single-application companies. It's restrictive in terms of partnership because [such companies] are limited to development flows built around a particular technology. "
Some of Sherlock's $ 35 million in funding will support "direct product development," but the company is very focused on developing new applications for its technology through its partners.
But for the moment, it keeps its mysteries in the internal programs, partly because their future depends on the programs on which Sherlock will choose to team up. The company said the discussions were deep enough and that she could not reveal the identity of these partners.
However, more broadly, the company is interested in "pharmaceutical, diagnostic and non-clinical spaces," with various applications in oncology, infectious diseases, industrial testing and home testing, said Dhanda.
RELATED: Jennifer Doudna's New CRISPR Company to Attack Disease Screening
Sherlock launches with a group of stacked co-founders, including pioneer CRISPR, Feng Zhang, Ph.D., the great Jim Collins, Ph.D. in synthetic biology, and David Walt, Ph.D., diagnostic expert who has co-founded Illumina. The company has hired a technology chief, William Blake, Ph.D., and wants to add a position to manage partnerships and business development, Dhanda said. Apart from that, Sherlock plans to grow "fairly quickly" and recruit "as many scientific staff as possible," he said.
Sherlock is not the only new diagnostic team based on CRISPR. In April, Mammoth Biosciences launched a licensed technology from the laboratory of another CRISPR pioneer, Jennifer Doudna.
Earlier this month, this company added another Cas enzyme to its CRISPR toolbox, increasing the number and variety of diseases it will be able to detect. He is now working with Cas14, as well as Cas12 and Cas13, in his diagnostic platform.
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