BLADE Directed Evolution of SaCas9 gRNAs Improves Gene Editing Efficiency
Date: December 11, 2025 Time: 11-12pm EST / 5-6pm CET Title: BLADE Directed Evolution of SaCas9 gRNAs Improves Gene Editing Efficiency Description: CRISPR-Cas9 efficiency is often limited by misfolding between the sgRNA scaffold and spacer regions. Using the BLADE-SELEX directed evolution ...
Trainee Spotlight Series: 2025 Oligo Meeting Poster Winners 1
Date: December 4, 2025 Time: 11-12pm EST / 5-6pm CET Title: Enhancing mRNA Nuclease Resistance via Nucleobase-Mimicking Small Molecule Self-Assembly Description: Nucleic acid therapeutics offer high efficacy and specificity but suffer from instability, requiring ultra-low storage temperatures and degrading rapidly in ...
New Approaches for Functional Oligonucleotides: RNA Activation and Non-Nucleosidic Aptamers.
Date: November 20, 2025 Time: 11-12pm EST / 5-6pm CET Title: New Approaches for Functional Oligonucleotides: RNA Activation and Non-Nucleosidic Aptamers Description: This talk will highlight two complementary approaches aimed at expanding the functional scope of oligonucleotide therapeutics. First, I will ...
DNA-based tools for the study and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
Date: November 6, 2025 Time: 11-12pm EST / 5-6pm CET Title: DNA-based tools for the study and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease Description: Aptamers are short stretches of DNA that fold into 3-dimensional shapes that can act as pockets for binding other ...
OTS Member Highlight – Dr. Richard Geary
Dr. Richard Geary, current OTS President, has always been passionate about health and finding ways to improve people's well-being. Born with a rare disease, he was in the medical spotlight at a young age; now, he’s known for his incredible contributions to the scientific ...
Binding and Ligand Activation Driven Enrichment–Directed Evolution of SaCas9 gRNAs Improves Gene Editing Efficiency
Authors: Telmo Llanga, Korie Bush, Ying Sun, Amy Yan, Jonathan Zhou, Jan Gorodkin, and Bruce A. Sullenger AbstractClustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-based editing is inefficient at over two-thirds of genetic targets. A primary cause is ribonucleic acid (RNA) misfolding that can occur between the ...
2025 President’s Special Award
David Corey, Ph.D. UT Southwestern Medical Center Biography: Dr. Corey received his BA from Harvard in 1985 and his PhD from UC Berkeley in 1990 under the guidance of Dr. Peter Schultz. After postdoctoral study in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Craik at UCSF, ...
2025 Paper of the Year Award – Late Discovery Category
Michele Carrer, Ph.D. Executive Director, Department of Neurology Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA “Conjugation to a transferrin receptor 1-binding Bicycle peptide enhances ASO and siRNA potency in skeletal and cardiac muscles” https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaf270 Biography: Michele Carrer, Ph.D., is an Executive Director in the Department of Neurology ...
2025 Paper of the Year – Basic Research Category
Ken Yamada, Ph.D. RTI, UMass Chan Medical School “Extended Nucleic Acid (exNA): A Novel Platform Technology Development for Enhancing siRNA Potency in Vivo” Paper of the Year: Enhancing siRNA efficacy in vivo with extended nucleic acid backbones https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-024-02336-7 Biography: Dr. Ken Yamada is an ...
2025 Patient Advocacy Award
Daniel Knight, PhD Candidate Carleton University “Strengthening Research, Advocacy, and Collaboration in ALS: The Dual Perspective of a Scientist and Community Member” Biography Daniel Knight is a fourth-year PhD candidate in chemistry at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where he is developing a novel ...
