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Mammoth Biosciences

Mammoth Biosciences is a biotechnology company based in Brisbane, California[1] developing diagnostic tests using CRISPR-Cas12a and CRISPR-based therapies using its proprietary ultra-small CRISPR systems. Several CRISPR-Cas systems identified through the company's metagenomics-based protein discovery platform, including members of the Casφ and Cas14 families of CRISPR-associated enzymes, have demonstrated potential for therapeutic genome editing in in vivo settings.[2]

History

The company was founded in 2017[3] by Jennifer Doudna, Janice Chen, and Lucas Harrington of the University of California, Berkeley, and Trevor Martin of Stanford University.[4] Mammoth signed agreements in December 2019 and January 2020 with Horizon Discovery to combine Mammoth's intellectual property in CRISPR with Horizon's expertise in Chinese hamster ovary cells.[5] Also in 2020, both Mammoth Biosciences and Sherlock Biosciences from the Broad Institute used their similar CRISPR technologies to develop tests for COVID-19.[6] The technology, which is owned under the trademark of DETECTR BOOST, has been contracted to be manufactured by Merck & Co.[7]

In 2023, the company announced that it will focus on developing CRISPR-based therapies.[8] The company's platform uses "ultra-small" Cas enzymes, such as CasΦ and Cas14, which measure down to a third or less the size of Cas9, and which could allow for easier delivery in vivo through commonly used non-viral and viral delivery mechanisms, including adeno-associated virus vectors.[9][10] Compared to Cas9, CasΦ and Cas14 may also offer less restrictive protospacer adjacent motif requirements, advantageous off-target activity, and allele-specific editing capabilities, which could broaden the range of targetable diseases in the genome.[10][9] Mammoth previously announced partnerships with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (2021) and Bayer (2022) to research ultra-small CRISPR systems for in vivo editing.[11][12]

Related Works

  • Lucas B. Harrington et al., Programmed DNA destruction by miniature CRISPR-Cas14 enzymes. Science362,839-842(2018).
  • Broughton, J.P., Deng, X., Yu, G. et al. CRISPR–Cas12-based detection of SARS-CoV-2. Nat Biotechnol 38, 870–874 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-020-0513-4
  • Patrick Pausch et al., CRISPR-CasΦ from huge phages, is a hypercompact genome editor. Science369,333-337(2020).

See also

References

  1. Rebecca Fannin. The 30-year-old female founder at the forefront of a billion-dollar bet on CRISPR gene editing CNBC, 2022-03-12, retrieved 2023-08-14^
  2. News: Miniscule Cas nucleases do a Mammoth's job CRISPR Medicine, retrieved 2023-11-10^
  3. Mammoth Biosciences Craft.co, retrieved 2021-05-27^
  4. Walter Isaacson. The Code Breaker Simon & Schuster, 2021^
  5. Horizon Discovery, Mammoth Biosciences Sign Second CRISPR Tools Development Agreement Genomeweb, 2020-01-13, retrieved 2021-05-27^
  6. Walter Isaacson. The Code Breaker Simon & Schuster, 2021^
  7. Matthew Mcardle. Increasing SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity with CRISPR-based rapid testing SelectScience, May 17, 2021, retrieved September 9, 2021^
  8. CRISPR unicorn Mammoth backs off diagnostics research, laying off 35 on testing team to focus on therapeutics Endpoints News, retrieved 2023-09-19^
  9. Lucas B. Harrington, David Burstein, Janice S. Chen, David Paez-Espino, Enbo Ma, Isaac P. Witte, Joshua C. Cofsky, Nikos C. Kyrpides. Programmed DNA destruction by miniature CRISPR-Cas14 enzymes Science, 2018-11-16^
  10. Patrick Pausch, Basem Al-Shayeb, Ezra Bisom-Rapp, Connor A. Tsuchida, Zheng Li, Brady F. Cress, Gavin J. Knott, Steven E. Jacobsen. CRISPR-CasΦ from huge phages is a hypercompact genome editor Science, 2020-07-17^
  11. Robert Hart. Mammoth Biosciences Inks $691 Million Deal With Vertex For Crispr Gene-Editing Therapies Forbes, retrieved 2023-09-19^
  12. Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss. Bayer in gene therapy collaboration with Mammoth Biosciences Reuters, 2022-01-10, retrieved 2023-09-19^