V. Narry Kim is a South Korean biochemist and microbiologist, best known for her work on microRNA biogenesis. Her pioneering studies have laid the groundwork for the biology of microRNA and contributed to the improvement of RNA interference technologies.
Genome editing, or genome engineering, or gene editing, is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism. Unlike early genetic engineering techniques that randomly inserts genetic material into a host genome, genome editing targets the insertions to site-specific locations. The basic mechanism involved in genetic manipulations through programmable nucleases is the recognition of target genomic loci and binding of effector DNA-binding domain (DBD), double-strand breaks (DSBs) in target DNA by the restriction endonucleases, and the repair of DSBs through homology-directed recombination (HDR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).
Cas9 is a 160 kilodalton protein which plays a vital role in the immunological defense of certain bacteria against DNA viruses and plasmids, and is heavily utilized in genetic engineering applications. Its main function is to cut DNA and thereby alter a cell's genome. The CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technique was a significant contributor to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 being awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.
Feng Zhang is a Chinese–American biochemist. Zhang currently holds the James and Patricia Poitras Professorship in Neuroscience at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also has appointments with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is most well known for his central role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies.
A protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) is a 2–6-base pair DNA sequence immediately following the DNA sequence targeted by the Cas9 nuclease in the CRISPR bacterial adaptive immune system. The PAM is a component of the invading virus or plasmid, but is not found in the bacterial host genome and hence is not a component of the bacterial CRISPR locus. Cas9 will not successfully bind to or cleave the target DNA sequence if it is not followed by the PAM sequence. PAM is an essential targeting component which distinguishes bacterial self from non-self DNA, thereby preventing the CRISPR locus from being targeted and destroyed by the CRISPR-associated nuclease.
CRISPR-Cas design tools are computer software platforms and bioinformatics tools used to facilitate the design of guide RNAs (gRNAs) for use with the CRISPR/Cas gene editing system.
J. Keith Joung is an American pathologist and molecular biologist who holds the Robert B. Colvin Endowed Chair in Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital and is Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He is a leading figure in the field of genome editing and has pioneered the development of designer nucleases and sensitive off-target detection methods.
Human germline engineering is the process by which the genome of an individual is edited in such a way that the change is heritable. This is achieved by altering the genes of the germ cells, which then mature into genetically modified eggs and sperm. For safety, ethical, and social reasons, there is broad agreement among the scientific community and the public that germline editing for reproduction is a red line that should not be crossed at this point in time. There are differing public sentiments, however, on whether it may be performed in the future depending on whether the intent would be therapeutic or non-therapeutic.
Off-target genome editing refers to nonspecific and unintended genetic modifications that can arise through the use of engineered nuclease technologies such as: clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN), meganucleases, and zinc finger nucleases (ZFN). These tools use different mechanisms to bind a predetermined sequence of DNA (“target”), which they cleave, creating a double-stranded chromosomal break (DSB) that summons the cell's DNA repair mechanisms and leads to site-specific modifications. If these complexes do not bind at the target, often a result of homologous sequences and/or mismatch tolerance, they will cleave off-target DSB and cause non-specific genetic modifications. Specifically, off-target effects consist of unintended point mutations, deletions, insertions inversions, and translocations.
Koh Gou Young is a researcher from South Korea studying organ vasculature and lymphatic vessels with an interest in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, adipogenesis, and cardiogenesis. His research has contributed to the publication of more than 200 journal articles, including multiple publications on how Tie2 deficits are related to sepsis, blood-retinal barrier damage, and an imbalance of intraocular pressure in Schlemm's canal which induces glaucoma.
CRISPR gene editing standing for "Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats" is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense system. By delivering the Cas9 nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell, the cell's genome can be cut at a desired location, allowing existing genes to be removed and/or new ones added in vivo.
GUIDE-Seq is a molecular biology technique that allows for the unbiased in vitro detection of off-target genome editing events in DNA caused by CRISPR/Cas9 as well as other RNA-guided nucleases in living cells. Similar to LAM-PCR, it employs multiple PCRs to amplify regions of interest that contain a specific insert that preferentially integrates into double-stranded breaks. As gene therapy is an emerging field, GUIDE-Seq has gained traction as a cheap method to detect the off-target effects of potential therapeutics without needing whole genome sequencing.
The Korea Science Award is an award presented to South Koreans and Korean scientists working in domestic universities or research positions. It is currently jointly presented by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea. Research achievements are limited to that of a single project conducted in Korea. Potential recipients go through a several stage review which includes consolation with foreign scholars.
The Asan Award in Medicine is an annual medical award presented by the Asan Foundation (ko). Not to be confused with their other prize, the ASAN Award, which is given for volunteer work, nor the Asan Memorial Poetry Prize given by the Asan Memorial Association in memory of Malayalam poet Kumaran Asan. Established in 2007, the Asan Award in Medicine is presented in the categories of Basic Medicine, Clinical Medicine, and Young Medical Scientists who are under the age of 40. For the first five years there was a singular laureate but now there is laureate for basic and clinical and up to three young scientists laureates.
Cha Meeyoung, sometimes known as Mia, is an associate professor at KAIST in the School of Computing and a chief investigator in the Pioneer Research Center for Mathematical and Computational Sciences at the Institute for Basic Science. Her research focuses on network and data science with an emphasis on modeling, analyzing complex information propagation processes, machine learning-based computational social science, and deep learning. In June 2024, she will become the scientific director of the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy. She has served on the editorial boards of the journals PeerJ and ACM Transactions on Social Computing.
Choi Kiwoon is a theoretical particle physicist researching focusing on particle theory and cosmology. He was a research professor at Chonbuk National University and a full professor at KAIST. He is the founding director of the Institute for Basic Science Center for Theoretical Physics of the Universe. He is a member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.
Kim Doochul is a South Korean theoretical physicist. He was head of the Department of Physics, director of the BK21 Physics Research Division, and professor emeritus at Seoul National University. He was also a fellow and chairperson in the Korean Academy of Science and Technology before becoming the fifth president of Korea Institute for Advanced Study and the second president of Institute for Basic Science. He was a standing trustee with the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics and a board of Trustee member of the Korean Physical Society.
Changjoon Justin Lee is an American neuroscientist specializing in the field of glioscience. He served as the Director of Center for Neuroscience at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and later founded the WCI Center for Functional Connectomics as part of the World Class Institute Program. In 2015, he established the Center for Glia-Neuron Interaction before becoming co-director of the IBS Center for Cognition and Sociality and head of the Cognitive Glioscience Group in 2018. He has been on the editorial boards of the journals Molecular Brain and Molecular Pain and is a chief editor of Experimental Neurobiology.
Charles D. Surh was a leading scientist in the field of immunology. He was a professor at both The Scripps Research Institute and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), director of the Academy of Immunology and Microbiology in Pohang, and associate editor of the journal Pleura and Peritoneum. He died from cancer in 2017.
Jung-Min Lee is a South Korean-American medical oncologist and physician-scientist focused on the early clinical drug development and translational studies of targeted agents in BRCA mutation-associated breast or ovarian cancer, high-grade epithelial ovarian cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. She is a NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and principal investigator in the Women's Malignancies Branch at the National Cancer Institute.
