CRISPR Cas 9 and biodegradable lipid nanoparticles

“The lipid nanoparticles described in the study encapsulate messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding Cas9. Once the contents of the nanoparticles — including the sgRNA — are released into the cell. The cell’s protein-making machinery takes over and creates Cas9 from the mRNA template, completing the gene editing kit. A unique feature of the nanoparticles is made of synthetic lipids comprising disulfide bonds in the fatty chain. When the particles enter the cell, the environment within the cell breaks open the disulfide bond to disassemble the nanoparticles and the contents are quickly and efficiently released into the cell”. . . .so report researchers at Tufts University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.  MORE

Image Credit: Tufts Now and animation by Visual Science and Skoltech