Decades ago, if an individual was diagnosed with conditions such as Huntington’s Disease, cancer, or MRSA it usually resulted in a life filled with doctor visits, multiple treatment plans, and rigorous prescription regimens. However, these conditions and the way they are treat could drastically change thanks to a scientific breakthrough known as clustered regularly interspaced shorts palindromic repeats or CRISPR for short. CRISPR technologies has the capability to be used in a wide array of clinical applications including personalized medicine, cancer treatment, and the prevention of heritable diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa. With the ability to treat serious conditions and disorders such as these, CRISPR will revolutionize the …show more content…
CRISPR is versatile in that any target sequence can be modified by simply altering the gRNA sequence. In addition, multiple genes can be edited at the same time with great specificity (Cong 88-89). The convenience and accessibility of CRISPR resourced have also allowed thousands of laboratories worldwide to study CRISPR in different ways, which has broadened the horizons of its biomedical and clinical implications (Collins et al 259). Overall, the ease and simplicity of CRISPR technology has allowed for a rapid increase in the understanding of genome editing, which will allow CRISPR to revolutionize how certain conditions will be treated. In the United States, 50,000 patients are added to the organ transplant list annually, however, only 23,000 organ transplants are performed (Salomon 1089). This organ – donor shortage has become a major problem Researchers have been using CRISPR to modify induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) to provide personalized therapeutic transplants (Cai et al 247). This can be done by turning specific genes on and off using CRISPR to force the iPS to differentiate into the desired cell type. As the number of these differentiated cells increases they will eventually create a fully functioning organ. This eliminates the need to find an organ donor altogether. In addition, this
For many years biomedical researchers like myself have been trying to create more proactive ways to amend the genome for living cells. In more recent fieldwork studies there has been a new state of the art instrument based on bacterial CRISP in close works with protein 9 often referred to as CAS9 from the streptococcus progenies have possibly unlocked new data. The CRISP/CAS9 tries to manipulate the function of the gene using homologous recombination and RNA interference, but is set back because it can only provide short term restriction of the genes function and it’s iffy off- target effects.
CRISPR may have received lots of ethical concerns but I still believe that this technology will be of great help to the society. Some of the diseases that people get are genetic in nature and with
From the science community perspective, the CRISPR-Cas system could reduce or even eliminate many of the difficulties researchers face when gene editing such as cost, duration and accuracy. Prior to CRISPR-Cas, gene editing was performed in “big labs” with experts
The CRISPR Team was fortunate to be a part of the “Virus Documentary” (SciChannel) and conduct successful experiments discovering the activity of viruses. Through a series of test conducted by The CRISPR Team, it
CRISPR-Cas9, a genome editing instrument, moves to change the field of biology forever. CRISPR was first observed as an innate defense mechanism used by bacteria. After years of development, scientists have been able to construct their own RNA that guides the CRISPR-Cas9. This allows them to control the behavior of the CRISPR-Cas9. What this could mean for the future is overwhelming.
CRISPR or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, is used to change the DNA. Today, as humans, we have learned how to use CRISPR for what we want it to do. This is a major break in what we know about DNA. For the future we are looking at how we can change DNA and control what the DNA changes to.
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which are the trademark of a bacterial defense system that forms the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology. If you have already heard of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, great. If not, I’ll explain it. CRISPR-Cas9 is a unique technology that enables geneticists and medical researchers to edit parts of the genome removing, adding or altering sections of the DNA sequence. This allows scientists to take away an illness or disease from someone’s DNA. CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been a polarizing topic due to ethical reasons. Some people believe that CRISPR is great technology that could and should be used for health reasons and even cosmetic reasons. This would mean
Regardless of those burning problems, CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technique presents staggering opportunities for addressing a number of illnesses beyond the reach of previous treatment modalities. Taking into account the accelerating rate of technological progress, as well as a wide range of research and clinical applications, the road ahead of us will certainly be a thrilling
In theory, CRISPR is an extreme method of gene editing and gene editing has been around for years on end. It has been used on plants to make them a more sustainable crop. CRISPR technology has not yet been perfected to be accessible to everyone. Yet the first clinical crispr trial happened in October of 2016, Michael Le Page tells us that in the first clinical trial of CRISPR being used "Doctors removed immune cells from the blood of a person with lung cancer, used CRISPR to disable a gene called PD-1 and then returned the cells to the body," the results of the trial are said to not be released until 2018 (Le Page 1).
Crispr uses its protein Cas9 to precisely snip out a piece of DNA at any point within the genome and then neatly stitch the ends back together. This way of editing is effortless and has a deep appeal. This article goes in depth on how Crispr works.
In the United States, 50,000 patients are added to the organ transplant list annually, however, only 23,000 organ transplants are performed (Salomon 1089). This organ – donor shortage has become a major problem. Researchers have been using CRISPR to modify induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) to provide personalized therapeutic transplants (Cai et al 247). This can be done by turning specific genes on and off using CRISPR to force the iPS to differentiate into the desired cell type. As the number of these differentiated cells increases, they will eventually create a fully functioning organ. This eliminates the need to find an organ donor altogether. In addition, this eliminates the possibility of transplant rejection since the organ would be made from the patient’s very own iPS (Cai et al 247). Another form of an organ transplant can also be achieved through the use of CRISPR known as xenotransplantation which involved developing animal organs for transplantation into humans. The main concern surrounding this transplantation is the transmission of infectious disease such as porcine endogenous retrovirus or PERV for short. However, researchers have significantly decreased the infectious risk by using CRISPR to perform a one-step inactivation of more than 60 copies of PERV (Salomon 1089). This scientific breakthrough makes the concept of xenotransplantation more feasible than ever thought possible. Altogether, the
CRISPR can be used to treat cancer and other conditions. On October 28, the first clinical trial using CRISPR to treat cancer began in China. In this trial, CRISPR was used to disable the gene PD-1, which cancers use to prevent an immune system response (Cyranoski, 2016). A previous gene-editing method, TALEN, has been used to successfully treat leukemia. A one-year-old girl with leukemia had her immune cells replaced with TALEN-edited cells, which allowed her to survive until a matched T cell donor was found for her (Reardon, 2015). CRISPR is a simpler process and more efficient than TALEN and is predicted to lead to a biomedical race to adopt this new technology between the United States and China (Cyranoski, 2016). Other conditions, such as AIDS, can be treated as well. CRISPR can be used to disable a gene called CCR5, which would prevent someone from developing AIDS regardless of if they are HIV positive. Alternatively, the HIV virus itself could be destroyed using CRISPR (Maxmen,
One of the main uses of CRISPR-Cas9 is to generate knock-out cells or animals. However modifications can be made to the Cas9 enzyme to selectively activate or repress target genes or purify specific regions of DNA. Before discussing how CRISPR works, it is important to understand its fundamental parts. There are two components of CRISPR, one being a “guide” RNA (gRNA) and the other being a non-specific CRSIPR-associated endonuclease, which is Cas9. The gRNA is synthetic RNA made up of a “scaffold” sequence for the Cas9-binding and a user-made nucleotide “spacer” sequence. The genomic DNA being addressed can be any 20-nucleotide DNA sequence as long as it meets certain conditions. This includes being unique compared to the rest of the genome as well as the target being present upstream of a Protospacer Adjacent Motif, or PAM. (“CRISPR/Cas9 Guide”, n.d.).
Every year approximately 4 million babies are born, of those 4 million babies about 3 to 4% are born with a genetic disorder or a birth defect. Imagine, if our doctors and scientist were able to develop a mechanism to that would allow alterations in the genome of these children and adults alike. Dating back to 1987, such mechanism was first described by Dr. Yoshizumi Ishino while he was studying Escherichia coli or E.coli (ISHINO et al., 1987). This newly discovered system is called CRISPR, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. Currently, many biotech companies are beginning in for the development and application of CRISPR for genome engineering.
Genome editing is a huge leap forward in science and medicine. Because of recent advances in technology, the study of genes and induced ‘point’ mutations have led to the discovery and advancement of methods previously used in order to mutate genes. The development of Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) and CRISPR associated system 9 protein (Cas9) technology is a hugely significant leap forward as this is a tool that could potentially be used for the research into and hopefully the treatment of a range of medical conditions that are genetically related. Cystic fibrosis (Schwank, G. et al, 2013), haemophilia and sickle cell disease are an example of some of the conditions that have the