Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Co-founder and CSO, Precision BioSciences
Biography
Derek Jantz, PhD, is the co-founder and CSO of Precision BioSciences and a 15-year veteran of the genome editing industry. As a protein engineer, he was an early developer of zinc finger technology and has spent most of his career designing proteins for genome editing applications. He performed his graduate studies in biophysics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Jantz co-founded Precision BioSciences in 2006 after co-inventing a novel method to modify the DNA-recognition properties of meganucleases. Since that time, he has worked to develop new gene therapies, cell therapies, and agricultural solutions through genome editing.
Emerging Therapeutics: Precision BioSciences
Precision BioSciences uses a proprietary genome editing platform, ARCUS, to develop cell and gene therapies that improve life.
Meganucleases for Ex Vivo and in Vivo Genome Editing
Genome editing has revolutionized scientific research in recent years, enabling new discoveries and validating new drug targets. Researchers are now working to translate the capabilities of genome editing platforms, including CRISPR/Cas systems, zinc finger nucleases, TALENs, and engineered meganucleases, into new genetic medicines. Precision BioSciences has developed a meganuclease-based platform (ARCUS) for therapeutic applications and is using this advanced editing technology to develop both ex vivo and in vivo therapies. ARCUS has demonstrated efficacy in both human T cells and in adult primates, putting engineered meganucleases in a promising position to support translation from pre-clinical to clinical studies in this emerging field.
