Researchers have discovered a new kind of enzyme that could open the door to even more efficient and accurate gene-editing in this rapidly developing field.
The enzyme could be deployed within the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats) gene-editing system in mammals. CRISPR, introduced in 2012, propelled forward genetic research because the method made it significantly cheaper and easier to cut and paste sections of DNA.
“This has dramatic potential to advance genetic engineering,” Eric Lander, Director of the Broad Institute, said in a statement.
CRISPR is a sequence of genes, found naturally in bacteria, that function as a database for its immune system, cataloging different viruses and supplying that information for enzymes, which attack the invading viruses by chopping up their DNA. Since 2012, scientists have harnessed CRISPR as a gene-editing tool and used it to make insertions and deletions in human DNA, mostly in the search for treatments for gene-based diseases.
The sole enzyme available to scientists using CRISPR was Cas9—the gene-editing system was commonly known as CRISPR/Cas—until now. On Sept. 25, Feng Zhang and his fellow researchers at the Broad Institute published their study of how the Cpf1 enzyme could serve as a better editing tool than the Cas9.
“The Cpf1 system represents a new generation of genome editing technology,” said Lander.
