{"id":26109,"date":"2016-12-16T23:48:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T23:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yaabot.com\/?p=26109"},"modified":"2024-01-17T19:14:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T13:44:58","slug":"a-noobs-guide-to-crispr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/a-noobs-guide-to-crispr\/","title":{"rendered":"A Noob’s Guide to CRISPR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Imagine being able to eliminate cancer cells from a patient’s body altogether, or grooming bigger cows that give you double the meat (or milk). Imagine curing blindness. Thanks to the CRISPR revolution, all this and more, is now possible.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n CRISPR is a segment present in the genetic code of prokaryotic organisms. Humans have eukaryotic cells – so what’s the relevance here? CRISPR is deserving of all its hyped because it allows us to modify the genetic code of almost any organism. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first connection to what can be now termed and considered as CRISPR originated in Osaka University in Japan in 1987 and was a very fortunate accident. CRISPR was cloned accidentally with the iap gene. In 2007 the first experimental evidence was finally published and it was used medically, paving the way for what we now call a revolution.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n CRISPR is an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, and is a genomic tool that has been discovered in it’s full potential not too long ago. Biotechnologists believe this tool could create a revolution on genetic modification and gene editing. Apart from its deep-based uses, it is also inexpensive, economic, brisk and not very difficult to use – allowing biotechnologists to simply ‘cut’ genes with very high precision. Result? We get to remove what we don’t like, and enhance what we do. Think designer babies.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cas is an acronym for CRISPR Associated Sequence. These two areas are adjacent to each other on the genome. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats<\/span><\/span> and the Cas work together and are expressed together as well, due to their proximity on the physical level. The Cas\u00a0proteins are numbered as Cas1, Cas2 and so on. Some of them have complex purposes – such as attacking the growing DNA to incorporate it into the CRISPR area. This regular incorporation helps curb bacterial cells and destroys them if they attempt to turn up recurring times. However, what we’re dealing with here is much more revolutionary and powerful than just a virus-wrecking structure. It is now predominantly used as a method for genetic editing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to it’s inexpensive and easy and quick to use nature, it is widely used by labs. It is a lot of power that has been bestowed on upon biologists. As Senior System Biologist of Stanford University, California has rightly said \u201cThe power is so easily accessible by labs – you don’t need a very expensive piece of equipment and people don’t need to get many years of training to do this. We should think carefully about how we are going to use this power\u201d. For that matter, we have already rampantly started using this power given onto us.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n From 2011 onwards, interest in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats<\/span><\/span> has only been growing and as of 2014, a research revolution has engulfed this tool. With 1300+ Publications mentioning CRISPR\/Cas, 150+ Patents mentioning CRISPR\/Cas and 80+ focus projects with a funding of over 160 million dollars, clearly an unprecedented amount of potential has been seen in CRISPR.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is CRISPR?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why CRISPR?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n