Pioneers hoping to crack peanut allergies for good

Peanut allergies could, in a matter of years, be a thing of the past — or more accurately the offending nut might be about to be cracked — if a Canadian start-up has its way.

Aranex Biotech, founded by chief executive Chloe Gui and chief technology partner Terry Huang, has taken a novel approach to tackling peanut allergies which puts the peanut in the spotlight as opposed to the millions of sufferers across the globe.

“We’re developing hypoallergenic peanuts,” explained Ms Gui. “Most people are looking at drugs for the patient and ways to change the patient… but what we’re actually doing is turning off the genes that code the three major allergens.