New gene tool can edit DNA sequence in time sequence

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, February 24 (Reporter Liu Xia ) According to a report by the Physicist Organization Network on the 23rd, American researchers wrote in the latest issue of the "Molecular Cell" magazine that they have invented a new gene editing technology that can be Editing cutting points or editing points in chronological order is expected to promote the development of cancer research and other fields.

The "popular fried chicken" CRISPR in the field of gene editing allows scientists to change the sequence of DNA in cells or add desired sequences or genes.

Bradley Merrill, the lead author of the latest paper and an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Medicine, said: "Nonetheless, the CRISPR-based editing system we currently use has an obvious shortcoming: all editing or editing Everything is done at once, there is no way to guide them one by one in order.

Merrill and his colleagues’ new genetic tool uses special molecules called guide RNAs to deliver the Cas9 enzyme inside the cell and determine the exact DNA sequence that Cas9 will cut.

Although proGuide is still in the prototype stage, Merrill and his colleagues plan to further develop this concept and hope that researchers can use this technology as soon as possible.

He said: "The ability to sequentially activate Cas9 at multiple sites introduces a new tool for biological research and genetic engineering.

He further explained that human development and disease evolution are related to time, but the current methods of genetic research on these processes cannot be effectively used in conjunction with time factors.