What Exactly Is CRISPR Gene Editing? And How Can It Be Used?

You've probably read stories about new research using the gene editing technique CRISPR, also known as CRISPR/Cas9. The scientific community is intrigued by this new technology since it is easier to use, less expensive and more effective than other methods for altering DNA.

CRISPR/Cas9 refers to Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR related protein 9. Although the names are an indication of the important characteristics that were discovered during its discovery, they do not reveal much about how it functions since they were created prior to anyone knowing what it was.

What does CRISPR/Cas9 do?

CRISPR/Cas9 are present in bacteria and is involved in immune defense. Bacteria utilize CRISPR/Cas9 in order to cut up the DNA of invading bacteria that could otherwise end up killing them.

We've modified this molecular machinery for an entirely different purpose - to change any chosen letter(s) in the organism's DNA code.

One possibility is to fix a genetic defect that caused an illness. In some cases it may be necessary to enhance the genetic code that is used for livestock, crops or even humans.

Do we remove the bad gene and add a new one?

We first have to remember that plants and animals comprise millions of cells, and every cell has the same DNA. It is not enough to edit just one cell: we would have to edit the same gene inside every single cell. We'd have to cut out millions of genes, after that, insert millions of new ones.

Not all cells are accessible easily - how can access cells deep in the brain or bones?

An alternative is to begin at the beginning and modify the genome when there is only one cell in the very young embryo.

All we require is a microscope and tiny scissors. This is the basic tool we make use of.

Cas9 is a reference to the virus-killing "scissors" which developed in bacteria. CRISPR is a mix of DNA repeat sequences which formed integral to complex systems that instructed the scissors which part of DNA to cut.

Cut the paper, then apply

In order to focus our Cas9 scissors, we connect them to an artificial guide which will direct them to the correct segment of DNA.

It is important to know that DNA is made up of two strands. One strand is connected to the other. A guide is a code that matches just one part of the 3 billion base pairs long genome. It's like an Google search. Our guide can comb through a lot of genetic material in order to find the exact match. Then , our "scissors" will be able to make the cut precisely the right place.

After the Cas9 scissors have cut DNA precisely where we want it, the cell will attempt to repair the damage by using all of the DNA available. So, we also inject the new gene we'd like to insert.

You can make use of the microscope and tiny needle to inject CAS9 together with the guide and the donor DNA, the new gene. It is also possible to make holes in cells using electrical currents. These devices will be floating within the cells. You can also use guns to shoot them using tiny bullets.

What is the way that the new gene know what to do? Imagine you're trying to place the final piece of a 3 billion-piece jigsaw puzzle. It's inside a cell full of goop, similar to the juice of a passionfruit.

You can make an jigsaw puzzle with the right shape, and then inject it into passionfruit. Then, it's just an issue of moving the piece around until it reaches the correct part of the puzzle.

It's not necessary to be able to view the DNA in our genome through the microscope, it's just too tiny. There's no need to jiggle either. Random diffusion (also called Brownian motion), will always deliver the piece of jigsaw in the correct location at the end.

The guide will initially jiggle and locate the spot where the scissors will be cut. Then, the new donor DNA will align precisely where it is required and then be permanently placed into the DNA strand with the natural repair mechanisms for DNA.

Recently, though new Cas-9 are being developed that don't require cutting through deoxyribonucleic acid. In this case the CRIPSR/Cas and guide system is able to deliver an enzyme to a specific gene to alter it, changing perhaps the A into a G or an A to an T, instead of cutting any part out or adding any thing in.

What do we intend to do using CRISPR/Cas9?

The majority of studies use mouse embryos or cell lines that are grown in petri dishes artificial liquid that is designed to behave similar to blood. Researchers are also trying to modify stem cells so they can be reinjected into patients in order to assist in the repopulation of injured organs.

A handful of labs across the world are actually conducting research on human embryos in the early stages of development. The research is monitored and monitored. Others work on plant cells, as whole plants can be created from a small number of cells.

As we get more information about the possibilities we can do with CRISPR/Cas9 will improve. We can do a lot however each living thing and cell is different. In addition, everything within the body is interconnected which means we should consider unexpected side effects and think about the ethics of changing genes. Most of all we as a collective must talk about and come to an agreement on the goals we want to reach.