NEW YORK, November 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellectis (the “Company”) CLLSa clinical-stage biotechnology company using its breakthrough gene-editing platform to develop life-saving cell and gene therapies, today published a manuscript in Boundaries of bioengineering and biotechnology Demonstrate the feasibility of efficient multiplex genetic engineering using a combination of two different molecular tools: Cellectis’ TALEN® gene editing technology (TALE nuclease) and a TALE-BE (TALE base editor).

TALE base editors are a new and very important addition to the gene editing landscape. This approach does not create DNA double-strand breaks like CRISPR/Cas9 or other genetically engineered nucleases and is a promising therapeutic strategy for genetic diseases. A key aspect to expand the range of possible applications is our understanding of design rules.

Cellectis used a screening approach to gain detailed insight into the editing rules driving TALE-BE activity and applied this knowledge to design highly efficient TALE-BE compatible with a potential therapeutic application. In addition, TALE-BE has insignificant amounts of by-products such as indels.

Cellectis scientists combined two molecular tools, a TALEN® and a TALE-BE, to perform a double gene knockout (KO). TRAC and CD52, a combination of target genes used for adoptive therapies using allogeneic CAR-T cells. This combination of molecular tools paves the way to simultaneous multiplex genetic engineering with more controllable results.

“A multiplex/multitool strategy offers several advantages: First, it prevents the formation of translocations, which are often observed when using multiple nucleases simultaneously. Second, it allows for the ability to go beyond multiple knockouts and still allow gene knock-in at the nuclease’s target site, expanding the overall scope of potential applications,” said Alex Juillerat, Ph.D., Vice President Gene Editing & New York Lab Head at Cellectis “The exact position rules that we have…