Genome editing, functional genomics, and cells figuring out how to eat themselves without dying. Professor of Genome Biology at ETH Zürich.

Zurich, Switzerland
Joined February 2014
Jacob Corn retweeted
Happy to share that my postdoctoral work is now out in @ScienceMagazine. We show that the RNA-programmable bridge recombinase ISCro4 can insert, delete, or invert multi-kilobase DNA fragments at defined genomic sites in human cells. Study link: science.org/doi/10.1126/scie… CRISPR-Cas has transformed genome editing, but many diseases involve diverse patient-specific mutations within the same gene. A mutation-agnostic alternative is to insert a healthy gene copy at a defined genomic locus, but gene-sized, site-specific insertions remain a major challenge. Main findings of our work: (1) ISCro4 is highly active in human cells and can be delivered by plasmid or all-RNA formats (2) Proof-of-concept programmable multi-kb insertions, deletions, and inversions (3) Structural insights into the basis of enhanced ISCro4 activity (4) Specificity and off-target characterisation (5) A framework to support future development and adoption of bridge recombinases The work was made possible through a close collaboration between the Jinek Lab, @schwanklab, and @jcornlab. I am deeply grateful to all of my co-authors for the team spirit, hard work, and dedication that went into this publication: @talasandris, Javier Fernández Carrera, @nicopmat, Lilly van de Venn, Charles Yeh, @p_kulcsar, @marquark, @YanikWeber, @SaskiaGerecke, Isabelle Harvey-Seutcheu, Dominic Mailänder, @MorPfl, and @ChrisChanez89. Special thanks to my supervisor, Prof. Martin Jinek, for his outstanding mentorship, and to Prof. Gerald Schwank and Prof. Jacob Corn for their generous support throughout. Finally, I would like to thank everyone in the Jinek lab for creating a supportive work environment, and @EMBO for funding my postdoctoral work. In parallel, independent work led by @ntperry13, @SKonermann and @pdhsu also reported ISCro4 activity in human cells, reinforcing the robustness and momentum of this direction. Please reach out if you would like to test the system or discuss potential applications. Relevant plasmids are now available via @Addgene.
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Jacob Corn retweeted
the best phages (and hair) at @arcinstitute @samuelhking
Jessica Sacher, PhD@JessicaSacher13 Nov 2025
Closing the AI-to-lab loop is hard, especially if you want to test your WHOLE GENOME generator.. Viruses are the only genomes cheap enough to print en mass, but raise biosafety flags So @ArcInstitute chose phages! We went deep w/ @samuelhking & @driscoll_cl on how they did it:
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Multimodal learning enables chat-based exploration of single-cell data go.nature.com/3WPGJnW
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Jacob Corn retweeted
Harvard chemist and molecular biologist David Liu invented gene editing tools that can correct and rewrite defective genes. His research could one day help hundreds of millions of people with genetic diseases, including sickle cell and muscular dystrophy. cbsn.ws/4oyLApL
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Tonight’s episode of @60Minutes will include a segment on the impact of federally funded science and recent cuts to science funding. Our lab’s development of base editing and prime editing and their clinical applications will be among the work described in the episode. paramountpressexpress.com/cb…
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Jacob Corn retweeted
Very excited to highlight @jcornlab's beautiful work on the E3 ligase SCF-FBXO31, which recognizes chemically damaged proteins. Mutations in FBXO31 cause disease by substrate-rewiring, really cool. Congratulations to all authors! rdcu.be/d7WGc
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Good at herding nerds? 🤓🧑‍🔬🔬🧬 We're hiring a lab manager! Looking for a dynamic team member that will play a major organizational role in our group, from managing inventories, organizing the lab, maintaining equipment, onboarding and training new lab members, updating our website, planning lab outings / retreats / social events, all while doing some really interesting bench-based research. Learn more about us here: kleinstiverlab.org/ And apply here: partners.taleo.net/careersec…
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Epigenome editing is transforming biological sciences and medicine. We're grateful for the opportunity to publish this review of the field in @NatureBiotech. Check it out here: rdcu.be/dPjsJ
Epigenome editing technologies for discovery and medicine go.nature.com/4cXw54M
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Thrilled to see our click editing paper out today in @NatureBiotech! 🚀 Click Editors (CEs) are a new class of genome writers which combine DNA polymerases and HUH endonucleases with RNA-programmable nickases for precise edits without DNA DSBs🧬✨ nature.com/articles/s41587-0…
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Join us at the Latsis Symposium on Genome and Transcriptome Engineering organized by @MartinJinek @randall_platt @jcornlab and @schwanklab, with lots of great speakers from academia and industry! 🧬 #Zurich #Switzerland June 13-14. Register at: latsis-genome-editing.ethz.c…
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A big week for the lab! See terrific work by @AnnCirincione and Danny Simpson here 👇
Excited to share our work in the @bsadamson lab using prime editing for multiplexed dropout screens! We built a platform that can reach high-efficiency editing and tested 240,000 epegRNAs for phenotypes. We saw phenotypes we expected and a few we didn't - check here for details!
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Today, @VerveTx is announcing updates to our PCSK9 program: 1. voluntarily pausing enrollment in the Heart-1 trail of VERVE-101 2. prioritizing clinical development of VERVE-102 which uses a different LNP delivery system 3. announcing clinical trial application have been cleared in U.K. & Canada for Heart-2 trial of VERVE-102 4. expect initiation of Heart-2 trial this quarter Details: 1. 13 patients dosed so far in Heart-1 trial, 6 at 0.45 mg/kg dose 2. Efficacy: up to 73% reduction in LDL-C and durability out to 270 days after single treatment 3. However, at potentially therapeutic doses, seeing laboratory abnormalities 4. last patient dosed at 0.45 mg/kg experienced a Grade 3 drug-induced transient increase in serum alanine aminotransferase as well as a serious adverse event of Grade 3 drug-induced thrombocytopenia (a drop in the platelet count) 5. Lab changes transient, reversible, asymptomatic 6. Nevertheless, have elected to pause enrollment to investigate in order understand mechanism, if means to mitigate 7. Regulators informed; IND, CTAs for Heart-1 trial remain active 8. We believe lab safety findings attributable to lipid nanoparticle delivery system 9. For now, prioritizing development of VERVE-102 10. VERVE-102 uses an LNP with an ionizable lipid that has been tested in third-party clinical trials and well-tolerated 11. VERVE-102 also adds a GalNAc liver-targeting ligand 12. Expect to start Heart-2 trial of VERVE-102 in 2Q '24 Link to PR: ir.vervetx.com/news-releases…
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Excited to share with you our manuscript describing the endogenous protein La as a mediator of prime editing and the development of our PE7 editor, which can improve prime editing. For more, please check out nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
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Jacob Corn retweeted
Zacharias Kontarakis@xecoli26 Mar 2024
I am looking for a Research Technician! If you want your work to shape the future of gene and cell therapy, join us - #geml & @jcornlab Apply: tinyurl.com/5dkyh54a Multiple exciting and ambitious projects ongoing! @HorizonEU @SBFI_CH funding 🧬✂️💉 #geneTIGA #TFITNESS #EDITSCD
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Thrilled to announce that @US_FDA has cleared our *investigational new drug (IND)* application for VERVE-101 FDA reviewed our hold response which included: 1. interim clinical data from the ongoing heart-1 trial currently being conducted ex-U.S. 2. pre-clinical data to address their questions Allows us to start heart-1 trial in US to test VERVE-101 in patients living with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia See full release here: globenewswire.com/news-relea… $VERV @VerveTx
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