What is CRISPR and what are its effects on humanity?

You may have already heard of CRISPR, especially if you follow the Nobel Prize. In 2020, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna were awarded the highest prize in science for their discovery of “genetic scissors” that could change the course of DNA editing history.

They also became the first women in the history of the award to share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Although the recognition of this award was received in 2020, the duo’s research had been continuing since 2012, when the potential of CRISPR was discovered.

But what exactly What does CRISPR mean and how can it contribute to studies in genetics and genomics? Take a look at how these little scissors can not only cut but also edit and repair DNA molecules.

What is CRISPR?

CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, In free translation it will be as follows; Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Does it make more sense now? Not yet?

This huge “name” represents something known This is a very interesting and very effective form of “immunological” defense against microorganisms..

When a bacterium is infected by a virus, it recruits CAS9, a protein that can “break down” the viral RNA into small pieces, making it easier for it to deal with and eliminate the invader.

However, it not only breaks down this material, it encapsulates a small portion of this invading RNA in its own DNA, causing the bacteriophage to retain the memory of its genetic material.

If attacked again Your DNA already identifies the suspect and eliminates him more quickly. But this function was discovered more recently, around 2005.

But this cut-and-paste function has proven very useful beyond bacterial life, allowing the “immune technology” of these microorganisms to work on plants and animals. These are very promising scales for gene therapies.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats

As seen in other texts, DNA consists of nucleotide repeats composed of nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T), always present in AT and GC bonds.

These combinations and repetitions are what preserve the recipe of our genetic code and may now Are you starting to figure out why CRISPR is called that?.

It turns out that our code has palindromic regions. Remembering that palindromes are words that can be read from left to right or vice versa, such as ovo, soups, among others.

Between these repeats are regular gaps where the DNA palindrome sequences are not repeated. An example could be an array TACGCATATGCTACGCAT, where TACGCAT is the palindrome sequence and ATGC is the normal space.

The magic of CRISPR is that it can recognize these sequences and recruit CAS9 proteins to make precise cuts. But in addition to cutting, it can also incorporate new elements into DNA.

Cut and paste with CRISPR/CAS9

CRISPR/CAS9 technology is very promising because it is a more precise and “cheap” method of gene editing. By using a guide RNA, it is possible to program which specific part of the genetic code should be cut and changed.

The RNA recipe will define exactly where the cuts should start and stop, enhancing repair with available material, altering the sequence or eliminating the unwanted portion of the target DNA.

This is a promising gene therapy for treating diseases, whether inherited or not, in which genes function abnormally and can be replaced with perfectly functional sequences. This is the CTRL-C + CTRL-V of genetics.

In addition to animals and humans, the technology also has agricultural potential, where desired traits can be incorporated into the basic plant recipe. But not everything possible is ethical.

In cases where ethics cannot be regulated

Although CRISPR technology is the future of gene editing, contributing to improving health and eliminating some critical hereditary and genetic diseases, it is still necessary to develop regulations regarding ethical uses of this potential tool.

It is always important to emphasize that this is an area still under development. and “human experiment” is the final stepAfter studies on animal models and other creatures with DNA.

These fundamental limits have been established as technology and new ways of improving the method have advanced, and there is still a long way to go for both.

In the meantime, we are following the gains in the region and in the near future, CRISPR can be used more generally safely and effectively.

While we talk a little more about DNA and our basic code of existence, also read the new chapter on the human genome and the latest discoveries. Cut and paste safely and see you later!