Genome editing, AI consortium approved by Israel Innovation Authority

The consortium will focus on harnessing AI technologies for creating tools to improve the efficiency and accuracy of genome editing, as well as enabling the tools' swift and effective implementation into research and industry.

By AARON REICH
Artificial intelligence (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Artificial intelligence
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
The Israel Innovation Authority's (IIA) Technology Infrastructure Research Committee approved the establishment and funding of a consortium that will integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and CRISPR technology to develop advanced tools for genome editing.
The consortium will have a total funding of NIS 36 million for 18 months, with the option to extend operations for an additional 18 months.
As part of the IIA's bio-convergence initiative – which seeks to integrate biology with other sectors to address unmet needs in the health sector, as well as others – the CRISPR-IL consortium will include companies from a variety of fields, including Nrgene, Evogene. Rahan Meristem, Pluristem Theraputics, BTG – Biotechnology General, Hazera Seeds, Colors Farm and TargetGene Biotechnologies.
These companies will be partnering with some of the country's leading scientists from a variety of research institutes, such as Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IDC Herzliya, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Sheba Medical Center and Schneider Children's Medical Center.
The consortium will focus on harnessing AI technologies for creating tools to improve the efficiency and accuracy of genome editing, as well as enabling the tools' swift and effective implementation into research and industry.
Ever since the discovery of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology, the field of genome editing has experienced significant momentum, due the potential the technology has for genetic research as well as the wide range of possible applications in other scientific disciplines such as medicine and agriculture.
The technology, which detects and modifies DNA sequences, can help develop advanced personalized medical treatments, treat genes that cause diseases and improve quality of crops. According to an estimate by ARK Invest, the CRISPR technology market will be valued at $500 billion by 2025.
Despite how promising the technology is, however, there are significant obstacles limiting its broad-based application. Genome-editing tools are significantly limited in accuracy and efficiency, which brings with it significant financial and safety risks. These limitations are due to the need for absolute precision when targeting parts of the genome as well as predicting the results in advance.
However, these limitations are similar to the ones AI technology is seeking to address in other fields. This can be seen in the medical sector, where AI-based solutions have been used to aid in diagnostics and data analysis in order to improve the speed and efficiency of processes that would otherwise take longer and be possible only by visual analysis.
With at in mind, there is significant hope that the application of AI technology to CRISPR will help genome editing take another step forward.

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“The CRISPR-IL consortium will enable Israeli industry to be at the forefront of genome editing worldwide, while recruiting leading scientists and deploying innovative technologies developed in Israel,” IIA CEO Aharon Aharon said in a statement.
“The consortium will bring companies from a variety of fields as well as research groups under its wing, which will together develop advanced technological solutions that are expected to have an impact on medicine and agriculture.”


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