Messenger RNA (mRNA) made its big leap into the public limelight during the pandemic, thanks to its cornerstone role in several COVID-19 vaccines. But mRNAs, which are genetic sequences that instruct the body to produce proteins, are also being developed as a new class of drugs. For mRNAs to have broad therapeutic uses, however, the molecules will need to last longer in the body than those that make up the COVID vaccines. 

Researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and MIT have engineered a new mRNA structure by adding multiple “tails” to the molecules that...

Samagya Banskota, former postdoctoral researcher in the David Liu Lab, has been recognized as one of the world’s top innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review.

... Read more about CCB postdoc among MIT’s innovators under 35

A team of researchers has developed a new drug delivery system using engineered virus-like particles (eVLPS)

... Read more about Innovative drug delivery system offers hope for treating genetic diseases

A team of researchers has developed twin prime editing, a new, CRISPR-based gene-editing strategy.

... Read more about New gene editing technique allows programmable manipulation of large DNA segments

Liu is recognized, in part, for inventing base editors, which can edit the genomes of living cells with unprecedented precision... Read more about David Liu elected into the National Academy of Sciences

Researchers prove they can engineer proteins called proteases to find new targets with high selectivity, a critical advance toward potential new treatments for everything from neuro-regeneration to cytokine storm... Read more about “Miracle poison” for novel therapeutics

Progeria study finds base-editing therapy more than doubles the lifespan of mice... Read more about Innovative tool offers hope for children with rapid-aging disease

Correcting the mutation that causes progeria with base editing leads to strong symptom reduction and longer lifespan in an animal model... Read more about Base editing successfully treats progeria in mice

... Read more about Top CCB stories of 2020

The pioneer of laboratory evolution and precision-editing of genetic code earns the title of AAAS Fellow

... Read more about David R. Liu elected into the American Association for the Advancement of Science

David Liu and Xiaowei Zhuang are two of 100 new members elected to the NAM this year... Read more about Two CCB faculty elected to the National Academy of Medicine

An engineered bacterial toxin is a key part of a gene editor that can make single-base changes in human mitochondria

... Read more about New molecular tool precisely edits mitochondrial DNA

BE-Hive, a new machine learning model, predicts which base editor performs best to repair thousands of disease-causing mutations

... Read more about Where the BEs are

In a first, researchers use base editing to correct recessive genetic deafness and restore partial hearing... Read more about Promise to restore hearing

New CRISPR base editors make fewer off-target edits and can access more locations on the genome than earlier versions

... Read more about Building better base editors