Genome recording makes living cells their own historians
The University of Washington School of Medicine has developed the capability for genomes to store information in real-time about a variety of biological events inside living cells.
“Our method, which goes by the acronym ENGRAM, aims to turn cells into their own historians,” said Dr. Jay Shendure, a professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine and scientific director of the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine. “This is a strategy for capturing biological information in living systems. It is not specific to a particular field like cancer or neuroscience and hopefully will be useful across the board.”
UW Medicine’s innovative research continues to attract top talent to the region’s flourishing life science hub, strengthening an existing culture of scientific advancement.