It’s about time I did a post on CRISPR-Cas9! As always, words in pink will be added to the glossary
CRISPR-Cas9 is an up-and-coming method for gene modification, which has taken the scientific world by storm.
What is CRISPR?
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) are repetitive sections of DNA, associated with the Cas9 endonuclease. It is commonly found as part of the bacterial immune system.
What does it do?
The CRISPR-Cas9 protein uses specific RNA guides to target and cleave very specific DNA. This means that CRISPR-Cas9 can be used for cutting highly targeted sites along the genome. The RNA guides the specificity, and can be artificially edited in vitro. CRISPR can knockout a gene of interest, and can also be used to cut out a gene, and replace it with a new one. In short, it can be used to edit a genome precisely, and this has had a massive impact on the studies of genetics, development, and improving human health.
Good or bad?
Many people have hailed CRISPR as the beginning of a new era of genomic engineering, with potentially vast consequences for human health and disease treatment. The possibilities that come with being able to accurately edit single regions of the genome are endless- some suggestions include:
- Modifying crop plants to be more resistant to diseases
- Inactivating retroviruses (such as HIV, CMV and VZV) that have integrated into the genome
- Mutate genes that cause disease in humans, and removing genes that cause cancer proliferation in tumours
However, this is still a new technology, and concerns have been raised over potential ethical dilemmas that may arise from CRISPR-Cas9. Many people are not happy with the idea of being able to edit the human genome, potentially leading to ‘designer babies’ and unnecessary changes to the human germline. Although CRISPR-Cas9 appears to be very accurate, it could cause a lot of damage if mis-directed to the wrong area of the genome. Nevertheless, many trials on somatic cells are underway, to see if treatments for genetic diseases could be cured by this technology.
Breaking news!
A group of scientists have been given permission to carry out tests on human cells for use in therapeutic treatment of lung cancer. It will be exciting to see how this treatment works, and whether CRISPR-Cas9 lives up to its expectations.
References:
“Many people are not happy with the idea of being able to edit the human genome, potentially leading to ‘designer babies’ and unnecessary changes to the human germline.”
Jamiroquai called it back in 1997 with “Virtual Insanity”: “And now every mother can choose the color/of her child, that’s not nature’s way…” (I’m not sure how else to contribute to contribute to the ethics debates on gene editing, it’s just a really cool song)
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Nice round up of CRISPR! If you’re interested in some of the people behind the discovery this nature article took the unusual step of highlighting some of the phd students and postdocs who made it happen http://www.nature.com/news/the-unsung-heroes-of-crispr-1.20272
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Thanks for the link! Here’s another article on gene-editing technologies other than CRISPR if anyone is interested: https://www.buzzfeed.com/vikky/can-you-make-it-through-this-post-without-going-a-y65c?utm_term=.oqQ0kzjYQ#.ypQBm6285
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Very interesting post!
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I won’t post every link set to come out in the future related to CRISPR because the list will be endless, but here you go: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/8/e1600699
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Reblogged this on ItsNotWhatItsWhy.
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