CRISPR Cas9

Those in the know must be saying “CRISPR-Cas9” is “so yesterday.” This remarkable gene editing technology has shot like a rocket into biomedical research around the world. CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (representing a targeting mechanism), and it pairs with an enzyme, “Cas 9,” that cuts strands of DNA, resulting in an “editing out” process. But now researchers at MIT’s Broad Institute and Harvard have discovered a new cutting enzyme, “Cpf1,” which has this advantage over Cas 9: “Cpf1 cuts DNA in a different manner than Cas9. When the Cas9 complex cuts DNA, it cuts both strands at the same place, leaving ‘blunt ends’ that often undergo mutations as they are rejoined. With the Cpf1 complex the cuts in the two strands are offset, leaving short overhangs on the exposed ends. This is expected to help with precise insertion, allowing researchers to integrate a piece of DNA more efficiently and accurately.” MORE

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