Selçuk University Leads Advances in Gene Therapy

Selçuk University has established itself as a leading institution in the field of gene therapy, driving significant progress over the past decade. Gene therapy has emerged as a new generation of medicine, with CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) gene-editing technology offering promising prospects in life sciences and medical research.

Initially discovered as an immune mechanism in microorganisms, CRISPR was repurposed for gene editing following groundbreaking research by Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna in 2012. Their contributions were recognized with the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

This innovative technology enables precise, targeted modifications in DNA; however, challenges remain in its application to living organisms. To overcome these limitations, various enhancements have been developed to facilitate clinical use.

One of the notable advancements is Prime Editing, introduced by David Liu and his team in 2019, which incorporates additional protein fusions to improve control and efficiency over traditional CRISPR methods.

Selçuk University hosts a research team dedicated to the clinical development of Prime Editing technology. Led by Dr. Nadir Koçak from the Medical Genetics Department of Selçuk University Hospital, the team is conducting pivotal studies aimed at treating chronic myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer caused by DNA mutations, offering renewed hope through cutting-edge gene therapy techniques.