CRISPR-Cas is a biotechnological method that offers a relatively quick and easy way to manipulate single genes in cells, meaning they can be precisely deleted, replaced or modified. It has advanced in many ways in regards to precision, yet up until just recently, it has only been able to modify one single gene at a time.
Now, thanks to an incredible new breakthrough from scientists at ETH Zurich, dozens of genes can be modified simultaneously. They have demonstrated a new CRISPR method that can modify multiple genes at once thus allowing for more large-scale cell reprogramming. They have published a paper on the research in the journal Nature Methods.
The team’s new gene-editing process can modify 25 different target sites simultaneously and they say that is not the limit. Theoretically, the technique is capable of hundreds of simultaneous gene modifications!
Randall Platt, from ETH Zurich in Basel, said:
Thanks to this new tool, we and other scientists can now achieve what we could only dream of doing in the past. Our method enables us, for the first time, to systematically modify entire gene networks in a single step.
Rather than using the traditional Cas9 enzyme commonly used in most CRISPR work, the ETH scientists use the lesser-known Cas12a enzyme. Previous research has shown that the Cas12a enzyme is slightly more precise in its ability to identify targeted genes and this new research found that Cas12a can also handle shorter RNA address molecules compared to Cas9.
The general CRISPR-Cas technique uses a pre-designed RNA sequence, called guide RNA, to home in on its target in a DNA sequence. The guide RNA molecule is like an address label. How this new technique differs is that it involves the design of a novel plasmid, or circular DNA molecule, that can hold a number of different RNA address labels. One of the strengths of the Cas12a enzyme is its ability to accurately read shorter RNA address sequences. “The shorter these addressing sequences are, the more of them we can fit onto a plasmid,” explains Platt.
The ways genes interact with each other are extraordinarily complex. Most of the time single gene editing does not suffice. Single gene editing can be useful when it’s known that a certain condition is caused by just one gene alone. However, the reality underlying many disorders is much more complicated than that. Which is why this innovative new technique is so great as it allows scientists to explore broad genetic interactions by influencing a number of genes in one single step.
The post Multiple Genes Can Be Edited Simultaneously With This CRISPR Breakthrough appeared first on Intelligent Living.