Shutting off certain genes did not slow glioblastoma cells in the lab
Original title: Targeted CRISPRi screening reveals unexpected resilience across the RNA polymerase III transcriptome
How far along is this research?
This is a preprint. Other scientists have not checked it yet, so treat it as an early signal rather than an answer.
This was only done in cells grown in a lab dish.
The short version
glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells grown in a dish kept going even when key genes were switched off.
What was studied. Scientists built a tool that can switch off single genes one at a time. They used it on a group of genes copied by a cell machine called Pol III. They tested it in healthy human cells, another common lab cell type, and glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells.
What they found. In the healthy cells and the other lab cells, some of these genes were needed. Without them, the cells did not grow as well. glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells were different. They mostly kept growing, even though the tool switched the genes off as planned.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This group of genes may not be a good target for treating glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary. Knowing that early can help scientists spend their time on better targets.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment, and it is not a cure. The work was done on cells in a dish, not in people or animals. Nothing here changes the care you get today. It is early lab science and is still a long way from the clinic.
Source: bioRxiv (preprint), September 27, 2026 · Read the original
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