The IGI envisions a future with cures for currently incurable diseases, solutions that are affordable and accessible to vulnerable populations, and agricultural technologies that provide food security in the face of a rapidly changing climate while also supporting true sustainability.
We are building on the successes of our first decade across both human health and sustainable agriculture and accelerating into the next decade to realize our global vision: a world where everyone, regardless of wealth or geography, can benefit from CRISPR technology.
To make this possible and expand our impact over the next decade, we depend on the support from philanthropic donors who share our vision. This funding will support the next generation of genomic technology discoveries that will quite literally change the world. We have exciting new initiatives planned in AI x CRISPR, and CRISPR for Climate, and have a roadmap for scaling CRISPR cures for truly accessible and affordable solutions. Learn more about our flagship projects below.
We’re developing cures for currently intractable, difficult to treat, complex diseases — which are often major killers. IGI has emerging technologies and entirely new therapeutic strategies for cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, asthma, and more.
Feeding the Future
The IGI is engineering climate-resilient, high-yielding crops that put farmers in control, raise people out of poverty, protect the food supply, and improve nutrition. Using IGI technology including trait stacking, hybrids from seed, climate-friendly orphan crops, and enabling local innovation with a freely accessible “CRISPR Commons.”
Closing the Emissions Gap
We’re pioneering the field of microbiome editing to eliminate challenging and unaddressed super-pollutant emissions including methane from livestock, croplands, and landfills, and nitrogen compounds from fertilizers, with permanent single-delivery approaches.
Postdoctoral Scholar Jason Nomburg and Bioinformatician I Karen Zhu look at the predicted structure of LigT-like phosphodiesterases on Jason’s computer in the Doudna Lab at Gladstone Institutes on August 15, 2024.
SFA project – Microbial Observatory – Rifle, Colorado..Near the town of Rifle, Colorado, lies the primary field site for Phase I of the Subsurface Systems Scientific Focus Area 2.0 (SFA 2.0, sponsored by the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research—BER). The site’s history as a milling facility for ores rich in uranium and other metals (such as vanadium, selenium, and arsenic) has resulted in low but persistent levels of contamination within subsurface sediments and groundwater. With the support of BER, Earth Sciences Division and their collaborators from the DOE Joint Genome Institute have conducted major investigations at the Rifle site, to facilitate integrated, field-based subsurface biogeochemical and microbial genomics research relevant to uranium mobility to improve the predictive understanding of subsurface flow and transport relevant to metal and radionuclide contaminants. ..Jillian Banfield, PhD Geomicrobiologist and Biochemist – UC Berkeley Professor and Berkeley Lab Earth Sciences staff scientist…
CRISPR For All
We’re focused on delivering on IGI’s core mission: Making CRISPR solutions affordable and accessible to those who need them most, including cures for underrepresented communities and agricultural solutions for low- and middle-income countries. We do this by ensuring that our innovations are scalable and building global partnerships to expand and regionalize our impact.
Our Scientific Leadership
The IGI is a joint effort between three of California’s leading scientific research institutions, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, and UC Davis, with affiliates around California. Our multidisciplinary team has unique, cross-cutting expertise to develop the next generation of genome engineering tools and solutions to treat human diseases, end hunger, and create a sustainable future. See all of our Investigators, Affiliates, and Fellows here.
Christopher Michel
We have a responsibility to pursue CRISPR’s enormous potential to achieve previously impossible solutions to some of the world’s big challenges — solutions that will be available to anyone.
