CRISPR
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is a prokaryotic adaptive immune response that provides immunity against foreign nucleic acids, such as viral DNA and bacterial plasmids, through the use of crRNAs (CRISPR RNAs) and associated Cas genes.
All edits by Alexander Honkala
CRISPR has been rapidly adopted in biotechnology research as it offers rapid genetic editing at a fraction of the time and cost of previous approaches. Whereas previous gene-editing approaches required protein engineering for each edit, CRISPR can be re-directed to a new site in the genome through supply of a new gRNA (guide RNA) complementary to the site of interest. While the first CRISPR variants based around native Cas9 suffered from high off-target mutagenesis rates, protein engineering and the discovery of additional CRISPR variations in bacterial species has led to a rapid proliferation of Cas9-related endonucleases, each with their own benefits and trade-offs. This family of tools is generally referred to as CRISPR. It comprises CRISPR-A/I acting as artificial transcription factors, high-fidelity CRISPR editing tools, drug-inducible endonucleases, and molecular imaging tools for DNA binding interactions. CRISPR systems are undergoing rapid development worldwide with application to diverse areas such as therapeutics, research tools, and ecological engineering. These developments have highlighted the potential safety issues inherent in a powerful genome editing technology, including their potential misuse and remediation thereof. Regulatory bodies have yet to issue specific guidelines for the safe use of CRISPR in therapeutics or any other systems, although such regulation will eventually prove necessary.
CRISPR has been rapidly adopted in biotechnology research as it offers rapid genetic editing at a fraction of the time and cost of previous approaches. Whereas previous gene-editing approaches required protein engineering for each edit, CRISPR can be re-directed to a new site in the genome through supply of a new gRNA (guide RNA) complementary to the site of interest. While the first CRISPR variants based around native Cas9 suffered from high off-target mutagenesis rates, protein engineering and the discovery of additional CRISPR variations in bacterial species has led to a rapid proliferation of Cas9-related endonucleases, each with their own benefits and trade-offs. This family of tools is generally referred to as CRISPR. It comprises CRISPR-A/I acting as artificial transcription factors, high-fidelity CRISPR editing tools, drug-inducible endonucleases, and molecular imaging tools for DNA binding interactions.
