CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutics: progress and prospects.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) gene-editing technology is the ideal tool of the future for treating diseases by permanently correcting deleterious base mutations or disrupting disease-causing genes with great precision and efficiency. A variety of efficient Cas9 variants and derivatives have been developed to cope with the complex genomic changes that occur during diseases. However, strategies to effectively deliver the CRISPR system to diseased cells in vivo are currently lacking, and nonviral vectors with target recognition functions may be the focus of future research. Pathological and physiological changes resulting from disease onset are expected to serve as identifying factors for targeted delivery or targets for gene editing. Diseases are both varied and complex, and the choice of appropriate gene-editing methods and delivery vectors for different diseases is important. Meanwhile, there are still many potential challenges identified when targeting delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 technology for disease treatment. This paper reviews the current developments in three aspects, namely, gene-editing type, delivery vector, and disease characteristics. Additionally, this paper summarizes successful examples of clinical trials and finally describes possible problems associated with current CRISPR applications.

Impact of COVID-19 on China's agricultural trade

Purpose The outbreak of the novel COVID-19 virus has spread throughout the world, causing unprecedented disruption to not only China's agricultural trade but also the world's agricultural trade at large. This paper attempts to provide a preliminary analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on China's agricultural importing and exporting from both short- and long-term perspectives. Design/methodology/approach This study seeks to analyze how the outbreak of COVID-19 could potentially impact China's agricultural trade. With respect to exports, the authors have pinpointed major disruptive factors arising from the pandemic which have affected China's agricultural exports in both the short and long term;in doing so, we employ scenario analysis which simulates potential long-term effects. With regard to imports, possible impacts of the pandemic regarding the prospects of food availability in the world market are investigated. Using scenario analysis, the authors estimate the potential change in China's food market-especially meat import growth-in light of the implementation of the newly signed Sino-US Economic and Trade Agreement (SUETA). Findings The results show that China's agricultural exports have been negatively impacted in the short-term, mostly due to the disruption of the supply chain. In the long term, dampened external demand and potential imposition of non-tariff trade barriers (NTBs) will exert more profound and lasting negative effects on China's agricultural export trade. On the other hand, despite panic buying and embargoing policies from some exporting and importing countries, the world food availability and China's food import demand are still optimistic. The simulation results indicate that China's import of pork products, in light of COVID-19 and the implementation of SUETA, would most likely see a sizable climb in quantity, but a lesser climb in terms of value. Originality/value Agricultural trade in China has been a focal-point of attention in recent years, with new challenges slowing exports and increasing dependence on imports for food security. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic adds significant uncertainty to agricultural trade, giving rise to serious concerns regarding its potential impact. By exploring the impact of the unprecedented pandemic on China's agricultural trade, this study should contribute to a better understanding of the still-evolving pandemic and shed light on pertinent policy implications.