The Center for Genome Engineering (CGE, acting director: Bon-Kyoung Koo) is a research center at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS). At the CGE, we conduct research on the basics of life science, studying stem cells, organoids, and mouse genetics. Our work also includes developing and optimizing new genome editing tools.
The CGE consists of nine research teams that conduct research projects ranging from feasible to highly challenging. Its well-established facilities cover genome editing in various species, transgenic mice, histology, and bioinformatics. The CGE’s Health & Safety Facility, its Media Kitchen, and an administrative team provide full support to all its researchers.
The CGE has three main goals:
- 1. Develop projects that are only possible at the IBS and conduct research in as yet unexplored territory in the field of genome engineering.
- 2. Raise the next generation of young scientists who can successfully lead the future of Korean science.
- 3. Become a biotechnology-based open innovation center for the local community of Daejeon City and South Korea more widely.
More specifically, our work consists of the following:
- 1. We optimize previously developed genome editing tools – such as Cas proteins and Zinc finger proteins – and apply them to various species. Prof. Ho-Seok Lee (Kyunghee University) and Prof. Donghwan Shim (Chungnam National University) have been appointed as adjunct scholars, and fish expert Dr. Jung-Hwa Choi is a senior research fellow at the CGE.
- 2. We are developing de novo genome editing tools on the basis of AI-based structure predicting algorithms in collaboration with Prof. Minkyung Baek (Seoul National University), who led RoseTTAfold, and Dr. Kayeong Lim (KIST), an expert in the genome editing field. Furthermore, we have also recruited Dr. Ji-Hye Yun as a research fellow in structural biology and promoted Dr. Annie Kim as the CGE’s team leader for genome editing.
- 3. We are developing and actively utilizing a conditional knockout platform called SCON. For this project, a research team led by the CGE’s acting director, Dr. Bon-Kyoung Koo, was established. Dr. Koo’s team is working to improve and utilize genetic tools to seek answers to big biological questions through research on mice and organoids.
- 4. Dr. Bon-Kyoung Koo’s team actively utilizes the mosaic genetics developed by his lab to ask biological questions associated with the early stages of tumors and aging. Meanwhile, Prof. Jihoon Kim (Catholic University), D.D.S. / Ph.D. Eunae Sandra Cho (Yonsei University), both adjunct scholars, and Dr. Ji-Hyun Lee, a CGE research fellow, are conducting their own research projects to shed light on the stem cell field. The newly established bioinformatics team, led by Dr. Heetak Lee, provides bioinformatic insights for all these projects.
