|
|
CRISPR, the Nobel-winning gene editing technology, has gotten upgrades that enable the tool to do more—and more detailed—remodeling of a person’s DNA.
CRISPR works by using proteins and ribonucleic acids (RNA) to break the bonds of DNA.
Using the right combination of molecules, scientists can break off a specific, precisely defined length of a DNA helix and either stitch the broken ends together or insert a brand new piece of code into the DNA.
Removing a defective section of the DNA code might cure a genetically caused illness, such as breast cancer or hereditary blindness; inserting a new piece of code can give a creature the ability to do something it couldn’t before, such as creating a bacterium that excretes a desired chemical when it’s given a certain food.
That’s all good as far as it goes.
Now researchers at the University of Maryland have added two new tricks to CRISPR’s magic act.
The old CRISPR can add or subtract genes but had a limited ability to wake up dormant genes.
This is critical: scientists are discovering that a range of medical conditions result from a necessary gene being permanently shut off.
The new technology is at least four, and as much as seven, times better than its predecessor at activating genes, as many as seven at once.
“We can design, tailor, and track gene activation with this new system on a larger scale to screen for genes of importance,” team leader Yiping Qi said in a statement announcing the breakthrough.
His group plans to apply the technology first in plants. The team will screen for genes that make plants more drought-resistant or produce more food, then use its new tool to amplify those genes.
In parallel work, bioscientists at Stanford University have unveiled CasMINI, a CRISPR version that can work in more detail than the original.
CRISPR typically deals in proteins with 1,000 to 1,500 amino acids.
CasMINI handles proteins with as few as 529, allowing it to make changes in smaller DNA sections and more easily work inside cells, the developers said, portending less difficult treatments of a range of human illnesses.
TREND FORECAST: CRISPR technology will continue to evolve, eventually becoming able to target the smallest part of our genomes to make fine alterations that coax or quell traits across the full range of DNA-based characteristics and conditions.
Scientists will perfect this tool using plants before ethics panels will consider permitting routine or extensive use in humans.
That will allow time for fears and complaints to arise, be tested, and be addressed before humans become CRISPR critters.