The CRISPR-Cas9 DNA editing tool is arguably one of the most revolutionary tools in biotechnology, the applications of which range from biofuels to medicine. Until now, a caveat of the tool was the time and effort spent in finding the perfect guide RNA to target selected genes effectively.
Infographic on how the CRISPR-Cas9 tool works. Courtesy of the Innovative Genomics Institute.
CRISPR (also known as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes are an essential part of adaptive immunity in an assortment of bacteria and archaea. These organisms use CRISPR-Cas systems to fight off invading genetic material. The CRISPR repeats were actually discovered in the 1980s in E. coli, and in their function was confirmed in 2007 by Barrangou et al, in Streptococcus thermophilus, which acquired resistance against bacteriophage by incorporating part of the genome of the infecting virus into its CRISPR locus.
It wasn’t until 2012 that the potential of this system was realized by Doudna and Charpentier. The system required only two components: the Cas9 and a synthetic single guide RNA (sgRNA). The sgRNA programs the Cas9 to attach to DNA, separate the DNA helix, find the correct section of the DNA. The matching sequence needs to be found next to a PAM (or protospacer adjacent motif) sequence in order for the Cas9 protein to lock down and make a double stranded cut in the DNA sequence....
More Targeting Genes, More Accurately – PLOS Synbio Field Reports – Medium:
'via Blog this'
CRISPR (also known as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes are an essential part of adaptive immunity in an assortment of bacteria and archaea. These organisms use CRISPR-Cas systems to fight off invading genetic material. The CRISPR repeats were actually discovered in the 1980s in E. coli, and in their function was confirmed in 2007 by Barrangou et al, in Streptococcus thermophilus, which acquired resistance against bacteriophage by incorporating part of the genome of the infecting virus into its CRISPR locus.
It wasn’t until 2012 that the potential of this system was realized by Doudna and Charpentier. The system required only two components: the Cas9 and a synthetic single guide RNA (sgRNA). The sgRNA programs the Cas9 to attach to DNA, separate the DNA helix, find the correct section of the DNA. The matching sequence needs to be found next to a PAM (or protospacer adjacent motif) sequence in order for the Cas9 protein to lock down and make a double stranded cut in the DNA sequence....
More Targeting Genes, More Accurately – PLOS Synbio Field Reports – Medium:
'via Blog this'
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