Powerful Tool for Genetic Engineering

Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have now shown that the dual-RNA guided enzyme Cas9, which is involved in the process, has developed independently in various strains of bacteria. This enhances the potential of exploiting the bacterial immune system for genome engineering. CRISPR is short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats, whereas Cas simply stands for the CRISPR-associated protein. Throughout evolution, this molecule has developed independently in numerous strains of bacteria.The CRISPR-Cas-system is not only valuable for bacteria but also for working in the laboratory. It detects a specific sequence of letters in the genetic code and cuts the DNA at this point. Thus, scientists can either remove or add genes at the interface. By this, for instance, plants can be cultivated which are resistant against vermins or fungi. This is very cool because it goes along with what we are learning in class and I just find it very intresting. I also believe that this is a pretty big break through for biology because it shows first-hand how a bacteria could actually evolve.

Streptococcus pyogenes is one of the bacteria in which the HZI scientists have studied the CRISPR-Cas system. (Credit: © HZI / M. Rohde)

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131122112721.htm