Embryonic Stem Cell Engineering

A small fraction of patients infected with flaviviruses such as Zika, Dengue, and West Nile virus develop remarkable antibodies that neutralize nearly all clinical isolates of these pathogens.Yet it is unclear how to induce these types of antibodies in the broader population through standard vaccination. Using novel targeted nuclease technologies, we are engineering human embryonic stem cells to express these antibodies and differentiating them into transplantable long-lived plasma cells. The long-term goal of this project is to provide permanent immunity to recipients of these engineered plasma cells.