Veni Grant for Wen Wu's research on Compact Gene Editing Tools

Wen Wu, Assistant Professor at the Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy (GRIP), has been awarded the prestigious NWO Veni grant (Science domain) for her research project titled "Smaller but better: Engineering small Cas12f prime editors for gene therapy."

The Veni grant will support her efforts to develop compact CRISPR-Cas gene editing tools aimed at improving the precision, efficiency, and safety of genome editing for therapeutic use. While current molecular scissors show great promise in treating genetic diseases, their large size presents significant challenges for delivery within the human body. This research focuses on engineering smaller, more robust Cas12f-based genome editors to overcome these barriers and advance the development of next-generation, targeted gene therapies.

Read more: NWO Veni 2024 laureates at the University of Groningen