Janice Chen


Janice Chen is co-founder and chief research officer of the South San Francisco-based company, Mammoth Biosciences, which is applying DETECTR, its programmable DNA detection technology, to reliable and rapid COVID-19 detection leading to quick diagnoses in even asymptomatic coronavirus patients.[1][2][3] Founded in 2017, Mammoth uses CRISPR as a genetic “search engine” to alert researchers of disease markers it identifies.[4][5] As a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, Chen worked in the lab of CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, receiving her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology.[3] Other Mammoth Biosciences founders are Jennifer Doudna, Lucas Harrington, CEO Trevor Martin and CTO Ashley Tehranchi--all Bay Area-trained scientists; at founding, the company set out to apply CRISPR technology to new frontiers.[6][7]

Scientific significance

Collaborating with University of California at San Francisco researcher Charles Chiu who is on Mammoth's scientific advisory board, Mammoth is contributing to the international effort to produce a diagnostic test for the coronavirus referred to as COVID-19.[4] SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus--cause of societal social-distancing and global quarantines--is detected from RNA extracts appearing on nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal respiratory swab tests; the Mammoth test is applied to detect nucleic acids so that an asymptomatic patient can be identified.[2][8]

The Mammoth method differs from earlier blood serum tests in that they been developed to detect antibodies.[2] Mammoth focuses on Cas14, a protein more precise because of its smaller size than the more frequently applied Cas9 protein currently used by most biotech companies.[4] Cas14 can be programmed to signal DNA evidence of a disease; a color change in the test solution indicates a negative or positive result.[4] This test method has been named by Mammoth as DETECTR, SARS-CoV-2 DNA Endonuclease-Targeted CRISPR Trans Reporter.[8]

DETECTR test results can be seen on a lateral flow strip within 30-40 minutes,[8] a much quicker turnaround time with equal or better accuracy rates than currently available diagnostics.[9][8] Its use adheres to current guidelines of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorizations (US FDA EUA). The power of Mammoth's DETECTR as an effective COVID-19 detector first appeared in a study released on April 16, 2020 analyzing the largest set of patient samples to date; this study contained the first peer-reviewed data applying CRISPR diagnostics to coronavirus research.[10]

Mammoth is also a partner with the gene-editing company Horizon Discovery.[11]

Awards and honors

Janice Chen was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 Class of 2018 acknowledging her as "among the most influential millennial professionals in healthcare."[12] Others named included her Mammoth Biosciences co-founding colleagues CEO Trevor Martin and Chief Discovery Officer Lucas Harrington and their CRISPR mentor Jennifer Doudna.[12][13]

References
  1. "30 Under 30 Spotlight: Unsung Heroes in Healthcare Janice Chen | Forbes Healthcare Summit 2019". Forbes. December 16, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. Dutton, Gail (April 24, 2020). "Mammoth's CRISPR Assay for Asymptomatic COVID-19 Carriers Gains Peer-Reviewed Validation". BioSpace. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. "Janice Chen". TEDx CERN. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  4. Rosenbaum, Leah (January 30, 2020). "Mammoth Biosciences Raises $45 Million For Crispr Diagnostics—And Its Tech Is Already Being Used Against Coronavirus". Forbes. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  5. CNBC.com staff (November 12, 2019). "Mammoth Biosciences". CNBC. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  6. Leuty, Ron (January 31, 2020). "How a Peninsula biotech plans to cut its way to gene-editing success". The Business Journals. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  7. Meiling, Brittany (July 31, 2018). "The Google of CRISPR tech? Tech legends Tim Cook and Jeff Huber back Mammoth Biosciences". Endpoints News. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  8. James P. Broughton, Xianding Deng, Guixia Yu, Clare L. Fasching, Venice Servellita, Jasmeet Singh, Xin Miao, Jessica A. Streithorst, Andrea Granados, Alicia Sotomayor-Gonzalez, Kelsey Zorn, Allan Gopez, Elaine Hsu, Wei Gu, Steve Miller, Chao-Yang Pan, Hugo Guevara, Debra A. Wadford, Janice S. Chen & Charles Y. Chiu (April 16, 2020). "CRISPR–Cas12-based detection of SARS-CoV-2". Nature. Retrieved May 12, 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. HospiMedica International staff writers (April 27, 2020). "CRISPR-Based Test Detects SARS-CoV-2 from Respiratory Swab RNA Extracts in 45 Minutes". HospiMedica.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  10. "Mammoth Biosciences Announces Peer-Reviewed Validation Of Its Rapid, CRISPR-Based COVID-19 Diagnostic". SynBioBeta. April 21, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  11. "Horizon Discovery, Mammoth Biosciences Sign Second CRISPR Tools Development Agreement". genomeweb. January 13, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  12. "Mammoth Biosciences Co-Founders Trevor Martin, Janice Chen and Lucas Harrington Named to 2018 Forbes' 30 Under 30". WebWire. November 15, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  13. Rosenbaum, Leah (January 30, 2020). "Mammoth Biosciences Raises $45 Million For Crispr Diagnostics—And Its Tech Is Already Being Used Against Coronavirus". Forbes. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
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