The CRISPR-Cas9 research and recent advances in animal models are showing promise to treat lots of human genetic diseases in the future. In a mainstream science article published by IFLScience!, they highlight research being done at Salk University that is working on using CRISPR-Cas9 and HITI technology to target non-dividing cells of the eye to help improve vision in rats with retinitis pigmentosa.3 The article briefly mentions what the CRISPR-Cas9 system is, stating that CRISPR is a method that snips strands of DNA and replaces those with new genetic material.3 Other than the effects of CRISPR research, and what it could mean for the future of genetic diseases, IFLScience! fails to mention the complexity of how the complex works, the engineered specificity of it, and the problems with current delivery.
The CRISPR-Cas9 complex is derived from the immune system of bacterial cells and also contains repurposed exogenous RNA’s responsible for editing the human genome.1 To edit a gene within the genome, researchers add a CRISPR RNA (crRNA), which is complementary to the DNA code of interest and is responsible for binding. The crRNA is engineered to be extremely specific to the code of interest. A trans-activating CRISPR RNA (tracrRNA) is also necessary for guiding all the pieces of the complex together to carry out the function of editing. The repurposed CRISPR-Cas9 complex contains two nucleases, RuvC and HNH, which perform noncomplementary strand cleavage and complementary
The P1 cross was between four wmf females and nine wild-type males. The F1 progeny consisted of 12 wild-type females, and four triple-mutant males. The P2 cross resulted in 13 females, and 3 males, all with the wild-type phenotype (Table 1). The two parental crosses identify that the mutations are X-link recessive. The triple-mutant females of the P1 cross produce mutant male offspring, but wild-type females. The F1 females would be heterozygous for the mutations, but don’t express the mutations because they still have a wild-type X chromosome. However, the F1 males only have one X chromosome that comes from a mutant mother. The offspring for P1 were crossed again to make and F1 cross. The F1 cross would be X+/Y and X+/X. The F1 cross resulted in 100 F2 progenies over the course of 7 days.
For many years biomedical researchers like myself have been trying to create more proactive ways to amend the genome for living cells. In more recent fieldwork studies there has been a new state of the art instrument based on bacterial CRISP in close works with protein 9 often referred to as CAS9 from the streptococcus progenies have possibly unlocked new data. The CRISP/CAS9 tries to manipulate the function of the gene using homologous recombination and RNA interference, but is set back because it can only provide short term restriction of the genes function and it’s iffy off- target effects.
CRISPR is a new gene-modifying tool that has the potential to treat numerous medical conditions by editing genes that are responsible for certain diseases. This technology is based on the ability of bacteria to destroy the DNA of invading viruses. Studies have suggested that this new technology can be applied to human cells, although the idea of chopping up regions of the human genome can be unethical and could even be harmful. In order for the treatment to be administered to a patient, a small piece of RNA and an enzyme that makes a cut in the DNA are delivered to the cells. A biotechnology company, known as Editas Medicine, located in Cambridge, MA, is already designing treatments for conditions of the blood and the eye using CRISPR. For
In “Life the Remix,” Alice Park discusses the impact and influence CRISPR has on science as well as its potential and risks. CRISPR—“clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”—is a technique to alter DNA, virtually for anything involving DNA. Although there have been attempts to edit DNA, none were as cheap and simple as CRISPR. This technique, which is based on the immune system of a bacetria, revolutionizes genetics after the subsequent discoveries of the molecular scissors enzyme: Cas9 and a method to efficiently and accurately edit human DNA using CRISPR, explains Park.
CRISPR has been garnishing a lot of media attention recently and it is not just popular among the scientific community but also the general public. Several online news outlets and scientific journals have been talking about the significance CRISPR-Cas could have for the field of genetics and science as a whole. I even came across a Youtube video from The Verge, a tech channel that normally does reviews on new smartphones and laptops talking about CRISPR [15]. So why is CRISPR gaining so much attention both from the scientific community and the general public? The answer lies in the potential this technology possesses.
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, referring to the repeating DNA sequences found in the genomes of microorganisms. CRISPR technology allows scientists to make precise changes in genes by splicing and replacing these DNA sequences with new ones. Through these changes, the biology of the cell is altered and possibly affects the health of an organism. The possibilities are endless as this offers opportunities in curing deadly diseases, modifying genes, and changing humanity as we know it. Although bioengineering has been around since the 1960s, CRISPR is significant because of the comparative low costs and the ease of the procedure to
The reading shows disease and inheritance in an entirely new light. It introduces the idea that genetically inherited diseases may have been selected for, which means that they must provide certain evolutionary advantages. It reorients the reader’s perspective about a disease like hemochromatosis, which has the potential to be incredibly harmful and even deadly, establishing that it may have once provided protection from the bubonic plague, making it an advantageous trait. This brings other genetic diseases into question, examining why diseases that appear to be harmful have not been eliminated from the gene pool. The idea that a disease that is harmful and dangerous in modern times could have once been a beneficial adaptation is very interesting.
Every few years, advancements in technology alter the way scientists do their work. Recently CRISPR-Cas9, a RNA useful for working organisms in the animal kingdom has proven itself beneficial on a gene-editing platform. After performing many abortive attempts to manipulate gene function, including homologous recombination and RNA interference, scientists have finally had a breakthrough with CRISPR-Cas9.
The author gives a brief history of past genome editing but thoroughly explains the history and mechanism of the CRISPR technology. She elaborates on how the technology has already been used to cure diseases and speculates on its future uses and regulation.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common and fatal genetic disease currently in the United States, affecting roughly 30,000 Americans each year (National Human Genome Research Institute, 2013). CF is an autosomal inherited disease that adversely affects the mucus and it’s production throughout the entire body. Mucus is normally a slippery substance that lubricates and protects vital organs and body systems including the lining of airways, reproductive system and digestive systems. Patients who are diagnosed with CF actually have mucus that is abnormally sticky and thick, which places them at a high risk for severe pulmonary, digestive, and reproductive problems. Specifically regarding the pulmonary system CF patients often develop clogged airways, leading to bacterial infections and breathing abnormalities such as chronic coughing, wheezing, inflammation and lung damage. As a result of this recurrent and problematic, this places the patient at an increased risk for permanent lung damage and disease. Over time due to recurrent, chronic lung infections the characteristic of the lungs begin to change as more and more scar tissue develop making them fibrotic and develop cysts.
Have you ever had a reaction to a medicine? Headaches, nausea, drowsiness and irritability are common side effects of both prescription and non-prescription medications. There are many reasons that people react to medications. Age, sex, weight and overall health are a few factors that affect how a drug reacts in your body.
There have been new technological advancements in the past few years, one of them being the CRISPR-Cas9. “CRISPR” stands for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats”. CRISPR is a tool that is used for editing genomes which allows researchers to alter DNA sequences and modify gene functions. The research for this was first started in 1993. Francisco Mojica is known as the first researcher .He
This easy-to-use technique will facilitate understanding genome functions and their relationships. It has sparked a revolution in genome engineering field since 2012. Below we review the history of CRISPR-Cas9 system development, reveal its underlying molecular mechanism and discuss its applications, challenges and future avenues of this novel
During January of 2013, scientists based at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard were able to demonstrate fixed change in human and animal cells using CRISPR-Cas9. This marked a turning point in genetic advancement—though CRISPR was far from mastered, its potential was beginning to show.
Genome editing is a huge leap forward in science and medicine. Because of recent advances in technology, the study of genes and induced ‘point’ mutations have led to the discovery and advancement of methods previously used in order to mutate genes. The development of Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) and CRISPR associated system 9 protein (Cas9) technology is a hugely significant leap forward as this is a tool that could potentially be used for the research into and hopefully the treatment of a range of medical conditions that are genetically related. Cystic fibrosis (Schwank, G. et al, 2013), haemophilia and sickle cell disease are an example of some of the conditions that have the