Gene Editing Services

Go biggerstay on target, and develop the cell lines that get the job done

Whether you need pin-point single base editing with negligible off-target activity, large insertions at a safe harbor site, or other knock-out or knock-in edits, our exclusive technologies and experienced scientists will deliver more than you may have thought possible.

Start your gene editing service project today

Choose from our different technology platforms or ask our scientists to customize a project to achieve your goals. We’ll use our patented and proprietary technologies, such as our Rapid Automated Cell Line Editing (RACE™) protocol, to ensure quality, accuracy, and fast turnaround times.

Capabilities

  • Knock-out 
  • Knock-in (up to 20 kb) 
  • Point mutation or single-base editing 
  • Complex, multi-step cell line engineering 
  • Footprint-free edits

Cell types* 

  • iPSCs (healthy or diseased) 
  • HEK293 
  • CHO 
  • Custom 
  • Research grade 
  • cGMP grade  
  • Matched research and cGMP grade 

Applications 

  • Disease modeling 
  • Tissue engineering 
  • Regenerative medicine R&D 
  • Therapeutic R&D 
  • Basic research 
  • Library construction 
  • Cell product cGMP manufacturing 

*We also offer CRISPR editing to generate rodent animal models — contact us to learn more.

With over 1,800 unique cell line models engineered by the scientist and technology developers at Applied StemCell, you can be confident in the quality and reliability of our service.  

  • Fast turnaround timesAs quick as 6 – 8 weeks when you select one of the ASC control lines or master cell lines. Alternatively, send in your cells for a 2 – 3 month turnaround time.  
  • High success rates—Over 98% projects completed to our customer’s specifications 
  • Customizable deliverables—Choose homozygous mutations, heterozygous mutations, footprint-free genome editing (ideal for GMP applications), or other customization options 
  • iPSC engineering specialists—Pluripotency and genomic stability maintained throughout genome editing process  
  • Supply chain security—All projects completed at our facilities in California (cell-based projects) and Oklahoma (animal projects)  

Looking for gene editing products?

Learn about the gene editing technologies we use

TARGATT™—High efficiency, non-viral, large payload integration at a specific intergenic site

Co-invented by Applied StemCell’s CEO, Ruby Chen-Tsai, PhD., and our Head of Research and Development, Alfonso Farruggio, PhD., TARGATT™ gene editing technology enables rapid, efficient, and precise integration of large DNA fragments—up to 20 kb—into a specific intergenic locus. Because integration is precise, single copy, and targeted to a defined site, we can avoid the challenges encountered with random integration mechanisms such as position effects, gene silencing, and gene instability due to the integration of multiple transgene copies. 

Together, these features make TARGATT™ an incredibly versatile tool for stable cell line development, especially when creating large fragment knock-in cell lines, protein expression cell lines, screening libraries, and gene edited iPSCs.

 

How TARGATT™ works

TARGATT™ consists of an integrase and two DNA sequences—the attB site, which is placed on the donor plasmid containing your DNA payload, and the attP site which we engineer into the genome at your location of choice (or you can use one of our master TARGATT™ cell lines which have an attP site at the H11 safe harbor genomic locus).  The TARGATT™ integrase binds the attP and attB sites, mediating a site-specific recombination event that results in the stable insertion of a single copy of the donor plasmid into the genome at the attP site. 

TARGATT™ advantages 

  • Screen directly in human and CHO cellsMost efficient and high-throughput library screening platform for HEK293 and CHO cells on the market, covering up to 1 x 109 clones 
  • Large cargo-friendly—up to 20 kb 
  • Safe—Integration only occurs at a specific site that we engineer into the genome 
  • Product development-ready—Patented technology can be licensed, ensuring full freedom-to-operate from RUO to commercialization 

Our TARGATT™gene editing service 

  • We offer research grade and cGMP grade editing in a variety of cell types, including iPSCs 
  • Choose one of our master TARGATT™ cell lines which have the attP site integrated into the well-characterized H11 safe harbor site—available as human iPSC (male and female cells available), HEK293, and CHO cell lines 
  • Turn-around times are as fast as 6 – 8 weeks with a TARGATT™ master cell line or 2 – 3 months  

A

B

C

Figure 2.  We achieved 46% (hygromycin only) and 67% (hygromycin + GCV) knock-in efficiency using TARGATT™ to insert a 22.2 CAG-MCS-attB plasmid into the hiPSC master cell line ASE-9211-TGT-PH3. A. Genotyping strategy that uses 2 sets of primers to confirm knock-in at the 5’ and 3’ junctions (575 and 848 bp, respectively). B. Image of the PCR gel electrophoresis. C. Summary of the genotyping results.  

AccuBase™—High efficiency, negligible off-target base editing technology for commercial applications

When you are developing a cell line with single or multiple point mutations for commercial use and need the certainty of negligible off-target effects, we will use our patented AccuBase technology for your genome editing service project. 

How AccuBase works 

AccuBase is a synthetic protein containing the targeting regions of the CRISPR Cas9 protein fused to a deaminase that directly edits the target base. Like the CRISPR Cas9 system, AccuBase uses a guide RNA (gRNA) to localize the AccuBase protein to the target sequence. Once bound, the AccuBase protein undergoes a conformational change that enables the base editing activity. 

AccuBase advantages 

  • Safe—Off-target edits are not detectable 
  • High-efficiency—Achieves multiple edits in a single cell at the same efficiency as a single edit 
  • Product development-ready—Patented technology can be licensed, ensuring full freedom-to-operate from RUO to commercialization

Our AccuBase gene editing service 

  • We provide sgRNA design and off-target analysis 
  • We have demonstrated success editing a diverse selection of targets, including immune cell surface proteins and disease-related genes 
  • We have successfully edited 12 targets in a single cell line

Figure 1. We achieve 80-90% efficiency when using AccuBase to edit as many as 4 targets in the same T cells.  

Learn about our other gene editing technologies

In addition to our patented technologies, we also use CRISPR/Cas9 and MAD7™ technologies as part of our gene editing service offering.

CRISPR/Cas9

How CRISPR/Cas9 works

CRISPR/Cas9 is a site-specific nuclease that uses a small guide RNA to target the Cas9 nuclease to a specific sequence in the genome. Wild-type Cas9 creates double stranded breaks in the genome that can be repaired using non-homologous end joining (NHEJ)—creating an indel (insertion/deletion)—or via homologous recombination with a donor plasmid to create knock-ins or point mutations. 

Challenges with CRISPR/Cas9 limit its use in therapeutic applications 

  • Safety is limited—The prevalence of off-target events limits accuracy and safety, raising concerns for clinical translation. 
  • Delivery is inefficient—Ensuring that all CRISPR components—the Cas9 enzyme, the guide RNA, and the homology-directed repair donor plasmid—enter the target cells in sufficient quantities is challenging. In addition, the large size of the Cas9 enzyme pushes the limit of viral packaging systems such as AAV. 
  • Knock-in efficiency is low and decreases with increasing insertion size—CRISPR/Cas9 relies on the host’s homologous recombination system which occurs at a low rate 
  • Commercial development is not straightforward—Our CRISPR/Cas9 license is for research use only. Product developers will need to obtain a license for commercialization.

MAD7™

How MAD7™ works   MAD7™, or ErCas12a, is a Class 2 Type V Cas nuclease that can be used for gene editing. It was developed by Inscripta and is a royalty-free alternative to CRISPR/Cas9 for academic and industrial research.   MAD7™ is based on a codon-optimized gene from Eubacterium rectale and is similar to Cas9 in that it is an RNA-guided nuclease. However, unlike Cas9, MAD7™ uses a single RNA species to guide it to the target DNA, where it creates double stranded breaks with sticky ends rather than blunt ends.   MAD7™ displays a preference for a 5′-TTTN-3′ or 5’ –CTTN-3’ PAM site rather than 5′-NGG-3′, which is preferred by Cas9.   We have successfully used MAD7™ for gene editing in iPSC lines and HEK293 cells.