CRISPR/Cas9 application in cancer therapy: a pioneering genome editing tool.

The progress of genetic engineering in the 1970s brought about a paradigm shift in genome editing technology. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system is a flexible means to target and modify particular DNA sequences in the genome. Several applications of CRISPR/Cas9 are presently being studied in cancer biology and oncology to provide vigorous site-specific gene editing to enhance its biological and clinical uses. CRISPR's flexibility and ease of use have enabled the prompt achievement of almost any preferred alteration with greater efficiency and lower cost than preceding modalities. Also, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has recently been applied to improve the safety and efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies and defeat tumor cell resistance to conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The current review summarizes the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in cancer therapy. We also discuss the present obstacles and contemplate future possibilities in this context.

A Case with Complete Pancreatic Aplasia Suggestive of Johanson-Blizzard Syndrome.

Johanson-Blizzard Syndrome (JBS) is a very rare autosomal recessive multisystem disorder. We report the case of a two-month-old male with pancreatic insufficiency and severe phenotypic features. His diagnosis of JBS was established using clinical symptoms and abdominal computed tomography scan that showed pancreas aplasia. According to the best of our knowledge, no case with this syndrome has presented with complete pancreatic aplasia in the literature.