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At the intersection of emerging technologies and international affairs, one of the most provocative areas is the applications of advancedgenetic engineering. The COVID-19 global pandemic and uncertainty about the origin of the causative virus illustrates both immediacy and the potential geopolitical implications of such technologies. These new gene editing techniques include one which has garnered a great deal of attention, the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) systems, as well as other, less well-known ones. CRISPR is not the first type of gene editing technology, but it is the most well-known within national and international security debates. Such advancements now allow for easier and more tunable manipulation of the genetic code of life with implications for governance of science and technology and with international security significance in the context of proliferation, deterrence, and unconventional weapons. Biosecurity and other emerging technologies require new models, not simpleextrapolationsof Cold War or more recent deterrence (or nonproliferation) paradigms.

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Emerging Life Sciences and Possible Threats to International Security - Foreign Policy Research Institute

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS You can hear the love in Mariah Gillaspies voice as she talks about her daughters Emma and Abby, who suffer from a rare genetic disease that causes seizures and development issues.

Emma, shes our oldest, and shell be 4 in October, Mariah said. Shes our calm, sweet little child. She has these little coos that sound like a dove. She really enjoys music, and she loves being around other kiddos her age.

Abby is our younger daughter, and shell be 2 in October, and she is our feisty little thing, Mariah continued. So, she lets you know when shes happy; she lets you know when shes not happy.

There is no question the two girls, the only two people in the world believed to have this disease, are surrounded by the love they get from Mariah and their dad Mark.

Mark grew up in Steamboat Springs and graduated from high school here in 2001. The couple now live in Centennial, but Marks parents, Jeanne and Joe Gillaspie, still live in Steamboat as does Marks older brother.

Four years ago, Mark and Mariah were overwhelmed with joy as they welcomed their first child Emma to the world, but when she was three months old, the couple started to notice she was having some strange movements, and when she started having episodes where she would hold her breath until she would turn pale, the couple took her to the doctor.

The doctor initially thought it was reflux, but when Emma stopped breathing in the doctors office, she was rushed to Childrens Hospital of Colorado for more evaluation and tests.

Throughout all this, I was convinced everything was going to be OK, Mariah said. It never crossed my mind that something was seriously wrong, and I had never considered that these were seizures.

Eventually, Emma was diagnosed with infantile spasms, which Mariah said didnt look serious on the outside but were damaging Emmas brain and impacting her development from the inside. Emma started treatment immediately, and the family was encouraged with the results. But then there was a relapse and a new medication, and then another relapse and another new medication.

Mariah said each new medicine came with a longer list of side effects, and Emmas immune system suffered. She had a bout with pneumonia that left her in the hospital for two months.

Through it all, the Gillaspies continued to search for answers.

We did a whole slew of genetic testing, and it came back inconclusive, Mariah said. They found absolutely nothing that could be the cause of her disease, and they told us this is probably some completely random condition that was caused by something that happened in utero.

They also told the Gillaspies that Emmas condition was rare, and there was less than a 3% chance of it happening again. So after extensive genetic testing, they decided to have a second child.

When Abby arrived two years later, they were thrilled, but at about six weeks, they noticed their youngest daughter was displaying the same movements that Emma had shown prior to her diagnosis. So it was back to the doctors, and it was confirmed through genetic testing that Abby and Emma shared the same mutated gene THAP12.

After discovering their daughters were suffering from the same condition, the family embarked on a grassroots effort to drive research about the rare genetic disease, which led to the creation of a foundation, Lightning and Love, a name that was chosen because the family believes lightning struck their family twice in the form of two daughters with the same rare disease.

The doctors would say, Im sorry, theres nothing we can do. We have to wait for science to catch up,' Mariah said. Every doctor that weve encountered has really been amazing and done their very best for us. Its just unfortunate science hasnt caught up to the girls, yet. Thats kind of, whereas parents, were passionate enough to move science along a little faster.

The nonprofit organization is supported by a GoFundMePage, and tax-deductible donations can be made through the Lightning and Love website.

The latest research funded by the foundation involved genetically engineering a zebrafish model to see if it showed symptoms of disease, specifically seizures. The zebrafish did have seizures, which Mariah said was a major breakthrough toward the ultimate goal of finding a gene replacement cure for her daughters.

But the journey for Mark and Mariah has proven to be more than just research and discovery.

What were realizing is the more we talk about it, and the more we do to get our story out there, the more were realizing that theres a lot of other parents that are going through tough times with their kids, too, Mark said. In an odd twist, or an ironic twist, this tough hand that weve been dealt has actually been a very positive light to a lot of other people out there. For me, that is just as important as the research.

The familys story was recently featured on the podcast, Go Shout Love.

The couples positive message is guiding them along the road they hope will lead to a better life for their family. But in the meantime, Mark and Mariah will continue to put smiles ontheir daughters faces the same way most other parents do by offering their love, support and opportunities to find happiness.

For Emma, that means being tossed into the air and caught by her daddy, and for Abby, it is time in her sensory room and being around her dad and her family.

Emma loves very big movements. Shes not mobile, and she cant walk, so when we kind of throw her around in the air or fly her around the room, she absolutely loves it, Mariah said. Abby loves her daddy. She gives big old smiles when he walks into the room.

To reach John F. Russell, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.

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Family seeks answers, finds hope after daughters diagnosed with rare genetic condition - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Back in the halcyon days, when I somehow got paid for messing with the minds of the impressionable youth of UAF, I liked to ask said minds to project themselves back in time 400 years, to take a look around and report back what, if anything, they noticed different between those times (counting back from now, for example, to the Lords Year 1620. (James I was King, if that helps) and our own times: changes in musical tastes, ethics, physics, theology or attitudes regarding leprosy, for instance.

1620 CE was earlier than heart transplants, genetic engineering and baseball. It was before George Washington and water-seal toilets. Oxygen wouldnt be invented until the mid-1700s (Really: no Periodic Table of Elements, no radioactivity). The Holy Inquisition was in practice: pious religious officials were still torturing heretics and burning witches. It was before abortion rights. Autochthonous peoples in many parts of the world had not been introduced to the blessings of European economics, religion and warfare. It was before Facebook.

Things had changed in the last 400 years. Bigly. My students always got that answer right.

Then Id ask them to project themselves 400 years into the future, to the early 25th Century, say, to look around, to report back. I asked them to pay particular attention to the way our descendants in 2420 look back on our (presumably long-obsolete) ways of doing things: our medicine, say, or our governmental systems, or our responses to global hunger, overpopulation, pollution.

This was a harder task. The problem with prognostication is that we normal people are not particularly good at it, being annoyingly set in our ways. This is not to say that we cant make predictions, but even deeply considered and finely calibrated events such as space launches, brain surgery, or steering an oil tanker around Bligh Reef occasionally go awry. Some events, like nuclear meltdowns or worldwide pandemics, can present unanticipated difficulties.

I asked my students to avoid fantasies like self-aware computers, two-way wrist radios or honest politicians. I was hoping for revolutionary ways of perceiving the world, something on the order of the atalatl, General Relativity or Akira Kurosawa. I was angling for new stuff: examples of true scientific, artistic or musical invention.

My students always protested. Were on to you, old man, you you English teacher! Youve been harping all semester about how we mortals really cant see into the future, that we make up the future with our words. Now you want us to think something no one has ever thought before!

Thats exactly what I wanted them to do, of course. To be fair, really new ideas are not particularly common. It took humans millennia to come up with the atlatl (c.20,000 BCE), even longer to invent the calculus (c.1665 CE) or germ theory (c.1840). But without inventive ways of looking at the world, humanity might still believe that malaria is caused by bad air, that light travels across a medium called luminiferous ether, or that things burn because they contain phlogiston.

Theres been much talk lately of returning to normal, but I wonder if thats really what we want. I wonder if normal isnt what got us into our present public health and economic crises. I think for a lot of people in our community normal is worrying about buying groceries, paying the rent, health care, personal safety.

In this Year of Our Trump and the Corona pandemic (known also to certain elderly cynics as the beer virus or the sniffles) the question for my students would be, Given that we really cant see into the future and given that our current pandemic is unlikely to be our last, whats our best strategy for the survival of Our People (defined however you like) for the next seven generations or so?

Id hope for some inventive thinking along the lines of how to take care of every person on Earth in honest and practical ways. Emphasizing that we have plenty to be humble be about when predicting the future, Id ask them to come up with ideas never tried before. Id suggest that food, shelter and health care need never to be money-dependent, for example. Id ask our youth for creative ways of feeding people, sheltering people, caring for people all people on this, our planetary spaceship.

Id invite them to approach the task with an honest and generous spirit.

Lynn Basham lives in Fairbanks. He taught atthe University of Alaska Fairbanks as an instructor, mostly in the English Department, for about 20 years and retired about10 years ago.

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Inventing the future for humankind | Community Perspectives - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

LONDON, Sept. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (Companies Included: Crispr Therapeutics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Intellia Therapeutics, Horizon Discovery, and Synthego Corporation)

In another instance, in early May, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Sherlock Biosciences an emergency use authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 diagnostic assay, beating out other companies and academic groups trying to use the powerful gene-editing technology to figure out who is infected with the novel coronavirus. Sherlocks test is the first FDA-authorized use of CRISPR technology for anything. Sherlocks test is a molecular diagnostic, intended to identify people who have acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. It capitalizes on a CRISPR-based technology developed in the lab of Feng Zhang, a scientist at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a cofounder of Sherlock.

The Business Research Companys report titled CRISPR Technology Global Market Report 2020-30: Covid 19 Growth And Change covers the CRISPR market 2020, CRISPR technology market share by company, global CRISPR technology market analysis, global CRISPR technology market size, and CRISPR technology market forecasts. The report also covers the global CRISPR technology market and its segments. The CRISPR technology market share is segmented by product type into Cas9 and gRNA, design tool, plasmid and vector, and other delivery system products. The CRISPR technology market share is segmented by end-user into biopharmaceutical companies, agricultural biotechnology companies, academic research organizations, and contract research organizations (CROs). By application, it is segmented into biomedical, agriculture, diagnostics, and others.

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The global CRISPR technology market value is expected to grow from $685.5 million in 2019 to $1,654.2 million in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.6%. The application of CRISPR technology as a diagnostic tool is expected to boost CRISPR technology market growth during the period. The Sherlock CRISPR SARS-CoV-2 kit is the first diagnostic kit based on CRISPR technology for infectious diseases caused due to COVID-19. In May 2020, the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) announced emergency use authorization of Sherlock BioSciences Inc.s Sherlock CRISPR SARS-CoV-2 kit, which is a CRISPR-based SHERLOCK (Specific High-sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter unLOCKing) diagnostic test.

This test helps in specifically targeting RNA or DNA sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from specimens or samples such as nasal swabs from the upper respiratory tract, and fluid in the lungs from bronchoalveolar lavage specimens. This diagnostic kit has high specificity and sensitivity, and does not provide false negative or positive results. Widening the application of CRISPR technology for the diagnosis of infectious diseases will further increase the demand for CRISPR technology products and services and drive the CRISPR market 2020.

Several advancements in CRISPR technology are trending in the market. Advancements in technology will help in reducing errors, limiting unintended effects, improving the accuracy of the tool, widening its applications, developing gene therapies, and more. Scientists, researchers and companies are increasingly developing advanced CRISPR technologies for more precise editing and to get access to difficult to reach areas of human genome. For instance, in March 2020, scientists at University of Toronto developed CHyMErA, a CRISPR-based tool for more versatile genome editing. Similarly, in March 2020, researchers at New York genome center developed a new CRISPR screening technology to target RNA, including RNA of novel viruses like COVID.

In November 2019, researchers at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, swapped CAS9 enzyme for Cas 12a, that allowed the researchers to edit genes in 25 target sites. It is also estimated that hundreds of target sites can be modified using the above method. In October 2019, a team from MIT and Harvard developed new CRISPR genome editing approach called prime editing by combining CRISPR-Cas9 and reverse transcriptase into a single protein. The prime editing has the potential to directly edit human cells with high precision and efficiency.

The CRISPR technology market share consists of sales of CRISPR technology products and services, which is a gene-editing technology that allows researchers to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. The revenue generated by the market includes the sales of products such as design tools, plasmid & vector, Cas9 & gRNA, and libraries & delivery system products and services that include design & vector construction, screening and cell line engineering. These products and services are used in genome editing/genetic engineering, genetically modifying organisms, agricultural biotechnology and others, which include gRNA database/gene library, CRISPR plasmid, and human stem cell & cell line engineering.

CRISPR Technology Global Market Report 2020-30: Covid 19 Growth And Change is one of a series of new reports from The Business Research Company that provide market overviews, analyze and forecast market size and growth for the whole market, CRISPR technology market segments and geographies, CRISPR technology market trends, CRISPR technology market drivers, CRISPR technology marketrestraints, CRISPR technology market leading competitors revenues, profiles and market shares in over 1,000 industry reports, covering over 2,500 market segments and 60 geographies. The report also gives in-depth analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the market. The reports draw on 150,000 datasets, extensive secondary research, and exclusive insights from interviews with industry leaders. A highly experienced and expert team of analysts and modellers provides market analysis and forecasts. The reports identify top countries and segments for opportunities and strategies based on market trends and leading competitors approaches.

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The Global CRISPR Technology Market Size Is Seeing Exponential Growth Due To The Application Of CRISPR Technology In Treating COVID-19 - GlobeNewswire

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Sept. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced that it has initiated its first Phase 3 study to evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The trial is being conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), in partnership with the UK Governments Vaccines Taskforce, and is expected to enroll and immunize up to 10,000 individuals between 18-84 (inclusive) years of age, with and without relevant comorbidities, over the next four to six weeks.

With a high level of SARS-CoV-2 transmission observed and expected to continue in the UK, we are optimistic that this pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial will enroll quickly and provide a near-term view of NVX-CoV2373s efficacy, said Gregory M. Glenn, M.D., President, Research and Development at Novavax. The data from this trial is expected to support regulatory submissions for licensure in the UK, EU and other countries. We are grateful for the support of the UK Government, including from its Department of Health and Social Care and National Institute for Health Research, to advance this important research.

NVX-CoV2373 is a stable, prefusion protein made using Novavax recombinant protein nanoparticle technology that includes Novavax proprietary MatrixM adjuvant. The vaccine has a favorable product profile that will allow handling in an unfrozen, liquid formulation that can be stored at 2C to 8C, allowing for distribution using standard vaccine channels.

Novavax has continued to scale-up its manufacturing capacity, currently at up to 2 billion annualized doses, once all capacity has been brought online by mid-2021.

About the Phase 3 Study

Consistent with its long-standing commitment to transparency and in order to enhance information-sharing during the worldwide pandemic, Novavax will be publishing its UK study protocol in the coming days.

The UK Phase 3 clinical trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled, observer-blinded study to evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373 with Matrix-M in up to 10,000 subjects aged 18 to 84 years. Half the participants will receive two intramuscular injections of vaccine comprising 5 g of protein antigen with 50 g MatrixM adjuvant, administered 21 days apart, while half of the trial participants will receive placebo.

The trial is designed to enroll at least 25 percent of participants over the age of 65 as well as to prioritize groups that are most affected by COVID-19, including racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally, up to 400 participants will also receive a licensed seasonal influenza vaccine as part of a co-administration sub-study.

The trial has two primary endpoints. The first primary endpoint is first occurrence of PCR-confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second study vaccination in volunteers who have not been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. The second primary endpoint is first occurrence of PCR-confirmed symptomatic moderate or severe COVID-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second study vaccination in volunteers who have not been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. The primary efficacy analysis will be an event-driven analysis based on the number of participants with symptomatic or moderate/severe COVID-19 disease. An interim analysis will be performed when 67% of the desired number of these cases has been reached.

For further information, including media-ready images, b-roll, downloadable resources and more, click here.

About NVX-CoV2373

NVXCoV2373 is a vaccine candidate engineered from the genetic sequence of SARSCoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. NVXCoV2373 was created using Novavax recombinant nanoparticle technology to generate antigen derived from the coronavirus spike (S) protein and contains Novavax patented saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. NVX-CoV2373 contains purified protein antigens and cannot replicate, nor can it cause COVID-19. In preclinical trials, NVXCoV2373 demonstrated indication of antibodies that block binding of spike protein to receptors targeted by the virus, a critical aspect for effective vaccine protection. In its the Phase 1 portion of its Phase 1/2 clinical trial, NVXCoV2373 was generally well-tolerated and elicited robust antibody responses numerically superior to that seen in human convalescent sera. NVX-CoV2373 is also being evaluated in two ongoing Phase 2 studies, which began in August; a Phase 2b trial in South Africa, and a Phase 1/2 continuation in the U.S. and Australia. Novavaxhas secured$2 billionin funding for its global coronavirus vaccine program, including up to$388 millionin funding from theCoalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations(CEPI).

About Matrix-M

Novavax patented saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant has demonstrated a potent and well-tolerated effect by stimulating the entry of antigen-presenting cells into the injection site and enhancing antigen presentation in local lymph nodes, boosting immune response.

About Novavax

Novavax, Inc.(Nasdaq:NVAX) is a late-stage biotechnology company that promotes improved health globally through the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases.Novavaxis undergoing clinical trials for NVX-CoV2373, its vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. NanoFlu, its quadrivalent influenza nanoparticle vaccine, met all primary objectives in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in older adults. Both vaccine candidates incorporate Novavax proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant in order to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies.Novavaxis a leading innovator of recombinant vaccines; its proprietary recombinant technology platform combines the power and speed of genetic engineering to efficiently produce highly immunogenic nanoparticles in order to address urgent global health needs.

For more information, visit http://www.novavax.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Novavax Forward-Looking Statements

Statements herein relating to the future ofNovavaxand the ongoing development of its vaccine and adjuvant products are forward-looking statements.Novavaxcautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include those identified under the heading Risk Factors in the Novavax Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year endedDecember 31, 2019, and Quarterly Report on Form 8-K for the period endedJune 30, 2020, as filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission(SEC). We caution investors not to place considerable reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release. You are encouraged to read our filings with theSEC, available atsec.gov, for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this document, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of the statements. Our business is subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, including those referenced above. Investors, potential investors, and others should give careful consideration to these risks and uncertainties.

Contacts:

Novavax

InvestorsSilvia Taylor and Erika Trahanir@novavax.com240-268-2022

MediaBrandzone/KOGS CommunicationEdna Kaplankaplan@kogspr.com617-974-8659

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Novavax Initiates Phase 3 Efficacy Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine in the United KingdomClinical trial to enroll up to 10000 volunteers across the UK to...