charting the course of genetics

Natural diversity in the genes we inherit shapes who we are, and it also contributes to the risk of disease throughout our lifetimes. Some genetic variants can increase the risk of certain diseases, while others may provide protection from disease.

We are studying natural human genetic variation around the world and conducting large-scale genetic screens in our laboratories. We will discover the genes that provide protection from disease, understand how they work and translate those insights into new medicines.

genetic modifiers

A clue to fighting disease?

Have you ever wondered why some people get sick and others don’t, even when they have the same disease-causing gene? We have, and that is what has brought us together.

Some people with mutations expected to cause severe disease actually display mild symptoms, or in extreme cases are not affected at all. Even within a family, relatives with the same genetic aberration can have very different forms of a disease. This variability suggests that the effects of a single genetic variant can be modified by other genes in our DNA. Finding the genetic modifiers that offer protection in some people can provide a clue about how to treat the disease.

At Maze, we seek to find and understand these genetic modifiers and ultimately develop drugs to provide their protection to patients with severe diseases.

Thanks to CRISPR and other breakthroughs, the last four years have seen a revolution in our ability to precisely alter cells and characterize how these perturbations impact function. This gives us an unprecedented ability to find ways to suppress disease states.

Jonathan Weissman

By studying human populations, we can uncover genetic variants that provide protection from genetic diseases. The scale of available human genetic data has now made it possible to begin systematically identifying these protective variants.

Mark Daly

translating genetic insights into drug discovery

Human genetics meet functional genomics

Recent years have witnessed a rapid expansion in the availability of human genetic data, which has provided a better understanding of how genetic variation contributes to disease.

At Maze, we are building a set of technologies in an integrated manner specifically focused on identifying genetic modifiers. To do this, we combine large-scale human genetics with cutting-edge functional genomics. We then integrate these data with known biology using advanced data science tools to understand the ways modifier genes confer protection and how they can be targeted with drug therapies.

Once we find a protective modifier, we will use the full arsenal of modern drug discovery approaches to modulate it in the most effective way, including small molecules, biologics, or gene therapies. Maze is ideally positioned to create genetically focused medicines in a way that has never been done before.

Our focus

We believe modifier genes will be found for many diseases, both rare and common, and could represent a new class of genetically-validated targets for drug discovery. We are initially pursuing programs based on genetic modifiers in neurological, metabolic and renal diseases, as well as oncology.

Reach out

We believe that collaborating with exceptional people, academic institutions and industry leaders will be paramount to delivering on our mission of bringing new medicines to patients.

Do you share our desire to fight disease by harnessing the power of genetics?

Are you a clinician or patient/family member with an interesting genetic modifier story to tell?

We’d love to hear from you: info@mazetx.com.