Aggregated News
When a tumor grows on an organ, doctors remove it. When a hip stops working, they replace it. When a faulty gene causes a disorder such as Huntington’s disease or sickle cell anemia, however, there isn’t a surgery to fix the problem.
But a new Cambridge life-science company aims to develop therapies that can put troublesome genes under the knife, so to speak, cutting out bad DNA like a scalpel excises bad tissue.
“The way to think about it is molecular surgery,” said Dr. J. Keith Joung, director of the molecular pathology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and a cofounder of the company, Editas Medicine. “The idea is you can go in and make changes to the DNA, the component that makes up all of our genes. If there’s a defect, you can fix it; if there’s a missing piece, you can put the missing piece in.”
Joung and his other cofounders are announcing the formation of Editas on Monday, backed by a $43 million initial investment from a trio of high-powered venture capital firms: Polaris Partners, Flagship Ventures, and...
But a new Cambridge life-science company aims to develop therapies that can put troublesome genes under the knife, so to speak, cutting out bad DNA like a scalpel excises bad tissue.
“The way to think about it is molecular surgery,” said Dr. J. Keith Joung, director of the molecular pathology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and a cofounder of the company, Editas Medicine. “The idea is you can go in and make changes to the DNA, the component that makes up all of our genes. If there’s a defect, you can fix it; if there’s a missing piece, you can put the missing piece in.”
Joung and his other cofounders are announcing the formation of Editas on Monday, backed by a $43 million initial investment from a trio of high-powered venture capital firms: Polaris Partners, Flagship Ventures, and...