Epigenomic Programming With Omega Therapeutics' Mahesh Karande

In 2016, MIT Professor of Biology, Rick Young published a paper that inspired the genesis of Omega Therapeutics. Young and his team found that nature organizes genes into three-dimensional structures, or insulated genomic domains (IGDs), which act as regulators of gene expression. When a disease state exists, an IGD will present differently from a healthy state. Led by President and CEO, Mahesh Karande, Omega expounded on Young’s findings and set out to engineer highly personalized therapeutics that would use IGDs as drug targets, known as epigenomic controllers.

Each epigenomic controller seeks disease with high specificity without modifying native nucleic acid sequences, and Omega plans to combat regenerative, immunologic, and oncologic diseases, as well as monogenic indications with this technology. Thanks to Omega’s computational biology team, researchers can have curative controllers ready to test in vitro within six weeks, and their first product, designed to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, is now headed to clinical trials. At this unique intersection of engineering and biology, Omega stands to revolutionize human medicine and disease treatment.