In this episode of Close to the Edge from GEN, senior editor Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD, speaks with Fyodor Urnov, PhD, a pioneer in the field of genome editing. Urnov is a professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, the scientific director of technology and translation at the Innovative Genomics Institute in Berkeley, California, and a co-founder of Tune Therapeutics, one of several biotechs exploring epigenome editing. The conversation goes into great detail about Urnov’s background in epigenomics and genome editing, including his time at Sangamo, where his team coined the term “genome editing” in 2005. It then discusses his vision for “CRISPR cures on demand” and the obstacles that currently stand in the way. Urnov also provides insight into the origin story of Tune Therapeutics and how this epigenome editing company stacks up against more recent entrants.
