Year of Establishment: 2017.
Year at Sunrise Tech Park: 2021-2024.
CRISPR-Cas Genome Editing Technology
Caszyme aims to deliver inventions by novel and top quality research activities in the field of CRISPR based Molecular Tools. Caszyme is developing and characterizing new tools in support of CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology research.
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Company founders: Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys, whose research in the field of CRISPR-Cas technology was the basis of which the company was founded, Dr. Giedrius Gasiūnas, scientific director of Caszyme, who contributed to Prof. Sikšnys has been working in the field of research and CRISPR-Cas gene editing for more than 15 years, Dr. Monika Paulė, director of Caszyme, graduated in economics, international business and marketing.
The establishment of the company was prompted by the global interest of Prof. Šikšnys works in the field of genetic engineering as a result of which Prof. Šišknys activities attracted the interest of business representatives in CRISPR-Cas field research and the application of the technology developed in Vilnius.
Caszyme has had a close relationship with Sunrise Tech Park since the company was founded and is happy to be its alumni.
What Caszyme does: CRISPR-Cas genome editing technology was discovered in bacteria, where it acts as a defense system against viruses that infect it. CRISPR-Cas 'Gene Scissors' is a targeted DNA sequence editing technique involving Cas proteins under the control of a specific RNA sequence called a guide RNA. Guided by this RNA, Cas proteins are directed to a specific DNA site in the genome, where they cut and edit.
"Caszyme" helps companies applying CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology in their activities to choose the most optimal method of gene editing and thereby increase the probability of success in the creation of the final product. For this purpose, the Caszyme company is constantly developing new genome editing tools and currently has accumulated knowledge in its database of more than 100 variants of Cas proteins with different properties, which can be applied as molecular DNA editing tools in different fields.
CRISPR-Cas technology has fundamentally changed the entire field of genetic engineering and is currently widely used in many areas of research, both in medicine for the treatment of genetic and oncological diseases, and in agriculture for breeding new plant species or in fundamental research for the creation of model organisms.
Caszyme believes that the use of technology based on the behavior of CRISPR-Cas systems will become a common part of many fields of natural sciences in the near future.
