The IGI’s 2022 Year-in-Review

A look back at our some of our most exciting news stories and new resources you don't want to miss!

CRISPR Turns 10

10 years ago, the paper that showed how CRISPR could be used as a genome-editing tool appeared in Science, paving the way for rapid advances in medicine, agriculture and life science research. This year, IGI founder Jennifer Doudna, and other IGI Investigators looked back on all that has been achieved over the past 10 years, and what comes next. Read more >

Welcoming our inaugural class of HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science Fellows 

The HS Chau WIES Fellowship program provides funding, education, mentorship, and networking to help scientists make an impact through bio-entrepreneurship and make headway on the problem of gender inequity in the biotech industry. In 2022, we also welcomed our second Tory Burch Fellow at the IGI. Meet the fellows > 

Using biology to capture carbon

This year, with major new support from the Chan Zuckerberg Institute, the IGI launched a new flagship project with a team of IGI Investigators focused on biological carbon capture and removal powered by CRISPR and cutting-edge genomic tools. Our approaches span supercharging photosynthesis to grab more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to investigating the root-microbe interactions that help siphon carbon into soil for long-term storage. This work is lead by Dave Savage, a 2022 HHMI Investigator; Pam Wolf, a 2022 Wolf Prize Winner; and IGI’s respective Directors of Sustainable Agriculture and Microbiology, Brian Staskawicz and Jill Banfield. Read more > 

Finding the “rosetta stone” of immune cell function

Alex Marson, IGI’s Director of Human Health, published exciting new research using CRISPR to study the immune system. Together with collaborators, Marson has created the most detailed maps yet of what immune genes do and how their complex networks within immune cells. Read more > 

Introducing CRISPRpedia – our free online textbook for all things CRISPR 

CRISPRpedia is our latest educational resource, and the most comprehensive guide to CRISPR we’ve ever produced. Use it to learn (or teach) about the origins of CRISPR in nature, CRISPR technology, and applications in medicine and agriculture. These fantastic illustrations made by Tami Tolpa for the IGI are free for noncommercial use! Explore >

The IGI Affordability Task Force tackles the cost of genomic medicines 

IGI’s Public Impact Director Melinda Kliegman brought together experts in academia, industry, government, and intellectual property with a two-fold aim: 1) creating a plan to deliver IGI-developed CRISPR therapies in an affordable way and 2) publishing a roadmap that details bottlenecks and possible solutions for others who share the IGI’s goal. Stay tuned for the recommendations, coming in Spring 2023. Read more >

Serving our community in the COVID-19 pandemic

In 2022, we continued our research into COVID-19 biology and diagnostics, and serving the community with COVID-19 diagnostic testing in IGI’s clinical lab. Take a look back at what our scientists have shared about being involved in COVID research and testing. 

Expanding the CRISPR tool kit with new, compact genome editors

Researchers from the labs of IGI Founder Jennifer Doudna and IGI’s Director of Microbiology Jill Banfield have found a wide variety of new, tiny genome-editing proteins inside viruses. These proteins may open up new avenues in genome engineering. Read more > 

CRISPR-edited foods come to grocery stores 

Every year, the IGI provides an update on the progress of CRISPR-based therapies in clinical trials. We’re excited to bring you a new resource from the other half of our research universe: a reader-friendly overview of how CRISPR is being used in agriculture, and what to look for next! Explore > 

Using CRISPR to target a global crop pest

IGI researchers teamed up with UC San Diego researchers on an IGI-funded project to develop a new CRISPR-based method to target invasive fruit flies that cost millions in crop loss, foregoing the need for pesticides. Read more > 

Launching innovative research centers

Thanks to generous gifts, we launched two new exciting researcher centers. With support from Apple Tree Partners, we opened the Center for CRISPR Target Discovery, a functional genomics lab aimed at addressing unmet medical needs with CRISPR. A gift from the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation supported us in starting the Berkeley Initiative for Optimized Microbiome Editing, a new venture aimed at microbiome editing. 

Thanks for supporting us through another fantastic year! 

By Hope Henderson

Hope Henderson holds a B.A. in Biology from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Molecular & Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She joined the IGI in 2019 to work in science communication. In addition to serving as IGI’s main writer, she plans content strategy and manages IGI’s social media, illustration, and translation.