The field of genome editing, which enables the manipulation of precisely targeted genetic sequences, has gained significant momentum following the discovery of the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) system. This revolutionary technology, for which its discoverers received the Nobel Prize in 2020, has tremendous potential in several fields. In medicine, genome editing can help advance personalized medical treatments, targeting specific genes responsible for diseases. In agriculture, gene editing of plants can enhance the quality of agricultural products, accelerate product development and cut costs.
The global CRISPR technology market (i.e., reagents, software) is expected to reach $11.6 billion by 2030, while the market of genome-edited products is estimated to total approximately $500 billion by 2025. However, the wide-ranging applications of this technology first need to overcome significant obstacles. Existing tools for genome editing have limited efficiency and accuracy, which could lead to undesirable (off-target) changes to the genome, with substantial economic and safety implications. In performing efficient and precise editing, it is essential to identify the target area of the genome with absolute precision, prepare the reagents required to achieve specific editing, and predict the results in advance.
The Israel Innovation Authority's Conso-rtium provides a platform for Israeli industries to excel at creating significant economic impact and technological advancements by leveraging the expertise of top Israeli scientists and utilizing innovative technologies developed in Israel. The CRISPRIL Consortium facilitates the transfer of knowledge and methodologies between academia and industry, creating a mutually beneficial environment for future collaborations.
The CRISPRIL Consortium is at the forefront of genome editing, bringing together different companies with academic and medical institutions. CRISPRIL members work in fields related to the life sciences, medical sciences and agriculture. They include top Israeli companies such as NRGene, Evogene, Biotechnology General Israel, Pluri, Target Gene, Hazera Seeds, Rahan Meristem Ltd., BetterSeeds, Colors Farm, and FreezeM. CRISPRIL also comprises medical institutions such as the Sheba Medical Center and Schneider Children's Medical Center, and academic institutions including Bar-Ilan University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Reichman University, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The Consortium received generous funding of approximately NIS 90 million from the Israel Innovation Authority and participating companies. It was launched in April 2020 for three years. Over this time period, infrastructure was built to enable an ecosystem of collaboration between Israeli institutions, resulting in an end-to-end AI-based platform called GO-GENOME that supports various genome editing workflows. The computational models were trained using hundreds to thousands of editing experiments that were carried out in various living cells, improving the efficiency and accuracy of genome editing.
This powerful platform has enabled the successful editing of different human cells, which can now serve as disease models for medical research. Additionally, it has been used to modify T-cells for cancer therapy. The platform also has vast agricultural applications, such as increasing the nutritional value of a fly (BSF) to create a novel food source and genetically improving freshwater prawns for efficient aquaculture. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that these two applications were demonstrated at scale. It enabled the development of better tomatoes and bananas as food sources.
The Consortium's activities have significantly contributed to the expansion of scientific knowledge and experience in the field of genome editing, with some findings already published in peer-reviewed papers. Moreover, it was pivotal in establishing a robust research and development infrastructure for CRISPR-based research at different Israeli academic and medical centers. Collaborative initiatives like CRISPRIL showcase the strength of the Israeli ecosystem's unity and openness, and the Israel Innovation Authority's courage to support the development and implementation of cutting-edge technologies.
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