New system for editing human genome revealed by scientists

A new study has been published on Friday by the scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It indicates that the research team has discovered enzymes that can more precisely cut than the CSIPSR technique, which can target stretch of DNA, snip it out, and replace, leading to extraordinary advances in medicine. The technique, CRISPR/Cas9, is completely revolutionizing genetic research and has already been used to engineer cops, livestock and human embryos too. Now, these scientists have reasons to believe that this technique can also be used to treat diseases. If this works, there would be a huge potential for it as a number of things in the world would suddenly change.

The team at MIT has identified a new CRISPR system for human genome editing that has the potential to increase power and precision of genome engineering. Eric Lander, the director of Broad Institute and one of the principle leaders of the genome project, said,” This has dramatic potential to advance genetic engineering. The paper not only reveals the function of a previously uncharacterized CRISPR system, but also shows that Cpf1 can be harnessed for human genome editing and has remarkable and powerful features. Cpf1 system represents a new generation of genome editing technology.” This newly discovered metho9d a bit different from the previously used methods to edit human genomes. The DNA slicing enzyme CAS9 acts a pair of scissors, connecting with two small RNA molecules to slice up genetic information and reassemble it in different orders. The new system, using the enzyme Cpf1 is much simpler as it uses one RNA molecule. It is also smaller than the previously used SpCas9 enzyme which makes it more efficient and easy to deliver into cells and tissues.

The initial discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 was accidental as the scientists were researching the DNA strands of different bacteria. During this research, they noticed clustered groups of repeating sequences, and realized that the bacteria were using a primitive immune system to scan their DNA for viruses and remove them if necessary. However, there have been disputes regarding who discovered Cas9 firs. In 2012, Emmanuelle Charpentier and biologist Jennifer Doudna from UC Berkeley, published a paper depicting their finding on the new system and have been involved in a legal battle since then. Although, there is still time before the doctors will be able to programs in a human being, the discovery of the new protein could mean a giant-leap for mankind in the field of Genetic research.