Tag: TnpB

20 September 2021 Researchers looking for evolutionary ancestors of enzymes used in the CRISPR genome editing have uncovered over one million potential genome-editing enzymes. The CRISPR/Cas9 approach uses small pieces of RNA as guides to direct a DNA-cutting enzyme called Cas9 to edit specific locations in the genome. It is this…

By analyzing microbial genomes, researchers have found what may be evolutionary ancestors of the Cas9 enzyme that snips out bits of DNA during CRISPR genome editing, according to a study published last week in Science.   According to Nature, the role of the microbial IscB protein family was unknown prior to the…

Thanks to CRISPR, gene therapy and “designer babies” are now a reality. The gene editing Swiss army knife is one of the most impactful biomedical discoveries of the last decade. Now a new study suggests we’ve just begun dipping our toes into the CRISPR pond. CRISPR-Cas9 comes from lowly origins….

While investigating the ancestry of Cas proteins, the researchers also found the first evidence of CRISPR activity in a eukaryotic cell. CRISPR gene editing is a field with many promises that has sometimes struggled to deliver. Now, a new study published in the journal Science has made a step towards…

Researchers seeking to understand the origins of CRISPR-Cas9 systems have uncovered a class of transposon-encoded RNA-guided nucleases, which they dubbed “OMEGA,” that could be harnessed for genome editing in human cells. These systems hold strong potential for developing as biotechnologies, the authors say. CRISPR-Cas systems have transformed genome editing and…

Left: Han Altae-Tran (Credit: Zhang Lab). Right: Soumya Kannan. Credit: Caitlin Cunningham Within the last decade, scientists have adapted CRISPR systems from microbes into gene editing technology, a precise and programmable system for modifying DNA. Now, scientists at MIT’s McGovern Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have…

The Cas9 enzyme — known as CRISPR’s molecular scissors — is used to find and cut specific DNA sequences.Credit: Nature By exploring the evolutionary origins of an enzyme used in the CRISPR genome-editing system, researchers have unearthed more than one million other potential editors lurking in microbial genomes. The study,…

NEW YORK – A team of US researchers led by the Broad Institute’s Feng Zhang has discovered a new class of transposon-encoded RNA-guided DNA nucleases, which they said could be used for genome editing in human cells and hold potential for biotechnology. In a paper published on Thursday in Science,…