Modelling the t(7;12) Infant Leukaemia using Gene Editing Technology

Dr Tosi says: “My research focuses on creating laboratory models of a rare subtype of acute myeloid leukaemia that only affects new-borns up to 2 years old. These will serve as research tools to identify possible weak spots of this aggressive cancer and find new treatments.

Blood cancer in infants from 0 to 2 years old is still poorly understood. A particularly mysterious and aggressive subtype is acute myeloid leukaemia with the genetic abnormality t(7;12). So far, scientists have struggled to uncover the mechanisms that lead to this disease, mainly because of the lack of reliable research models. More recently, the advances in genetic engineering have allowed the editing of DNA to artificially create genetic abnormalities. With this tool, we aim at mimicking the leukaemia-associated abnormality t(7;12) in cells cultured in vitro. This will enable us to closely study the role of this genetic rearrangement in the development of childhood leukaemia.”