Technology And The Medical Field Advances

In “Life the Remix,” Alice Park discusses the impact and influence CRISPR has on science as well as its potential and risks. CRISPR—“clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”—is a technique to alter DNA, virtually for anything involving DNA. Although there have been attempts to edit DNA, none were as cheap and simple as CRISPR. This technique, which is based on the immune system of a bacetria, revolutionizes genetics after the subsequent discoveries of the molecular scissors enzyme: Cas9 and a method to efficiently and accurately edit human DNA using CRISPR, explains Park.

CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, referring to the repeating DNA sequences found in the genomes of microorganisms. CRISPR technology allows scientists to make precise changes in genes by splicing and replacing these DNA sequences with new ones. Through these changes, the biology of the cell is altered and possibly affects the health of an organism. The possibilities are endless as this offers opportunities in curing deadly diseases, modifying genes, and changing humanity as we know it. Although bioengineering has been around since the 1960s, CRISPR is significant because of the comparative low costs and the ease of the procedure to

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool that cuts out, replaces, and alters unwanted pieces of DNA. This process starts by scientists creating a synthetic RNA guide with a specific sequence. Upon entering the cell, the RNA guide meets up with the enzyme Cas9. The RNA then leads the Cas9 to a predetermined section of DNA. The Cas9 unzips the DNA which allows the RNA

Clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) are an immune response evolved by bacteria and archea as an adaptive defense mechanism to invading DNA. (4) The CRISPR Cas9 system relies on the uptake of invading DNA fragments that are then inserted into CRISPR loci. (4) In the CRISPR loci, repeats are separated by nucleotide spacers which match and or composed of invading DNA.(4) New spacer DNA is incorporated by Cas1 and Cas2.(4) The CRISPR spacer loci then transcribe into short CRISPR RNAs (crRNA) which anneal to foreign nucleic acids in conjunction with complementary binding trans-activating cr RNA(tracrRNA) to form a duplex which is then cleaved to provide a guiding RNA cr/tracr RNA hybrid.(4) the RNA hybrid acts as a guiding mechanism for Cas9 by complementary binding to the invading nucleotides.(4) Cas9 is an endonuclease that can cause a double stranded cleave in DNA(4) Cas9 guided with sgRNA then cleaves the foreign DNA resulting in double stranded breaks effectively disrupting and thereby removing a gene.(1)(2)(3)(4) After a ds break occurs cellular machinery attempts to fix the break with non homologous end joining in which cellular systems effectively sutures the broken ends of the DNA by recombining the remaining ends of DNA to once again produce a continuous strand.(4) This

CRISPR-Cas9 is not an artificial construction; bacteria use it as a form of adaptive anti-viral immunity. When infected with a pathogen, bacteria that has this system retain a portion of the infecting virus in their chromosomal DNA. The cell then transcribes those sequences (called CRISPRs, or “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”) and processes them into short RNAs called crRNAs. The crRNA guides the Cas9 nuclease to its target (normally, an invading viral nucleic acid) and cuts the foreign nucleic acid, rendering the virus useless in the process.

CRISPR Cas9 is a gene editing tool that can be used to edit, delete, and change parts of the genome. What makes CRISPR Cas9 different from other gene editing techniques such as Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) or Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN) is its targeting efficiency ability. For example, ZFNs and TALENs could only reach targeting efficiencies from 1% to 50% in human cells. On the other hand, CRISPR Cas9 had a much higher rate at greater than 70% in Zebrafish and plants. (Reis, 2014). CRISPR Cas9 is still being heavily researched by scientists today, because although many advancements have been made since its discovery in 1993, it is far from ready to be used commonly. Successful studies and experiments with this gene

Since the 1980’s, scientists observed a unnatural patterns in some bacterial genomes. One DNA sequence would be repeated over and over again, with original sequences in between the repeats. They called this odd function “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,” or CRISPR. This was confusing to all until scientists realized the unique sequences in between the repeats matched the DNA of viruses, specifically viruses that target certain bacteria. It turns out CRISPR is an important part in the bacteria’s immune system, which keeps harmful viruses around so it is recognizable and can defend against those viruses next time they attack for an example; kind of like a book one would keep around to look back on for help even though one does not need the book at the time. The second part of the defense mechanism is a set of enzymes called Cas or, CRISPR-associated proteins, which can precisely locate DNA and remove all of the invading viruses. Conveniently, the genes that encode for Cas are always sitting somewhere near the CRISPR sequences kind

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats or CRISPR is an efficient and reliable ways to make precise, targeted changes to the genome of living cells. It is a naturally occurring defence mechanism of bacteria. The first part of the defense system is CRISPR and it just remembers parts of viruses DNA so it can recognize and defend against the virus. The second part of the defense mechanism is a set of enzymes called Cas9 or CRISPR associated proteins. Cas9 precisely cuts DNA. The CRISPR/Cas9 system was found in streptococcus pyogenes or better know as the bacteria that causes strep throat. All of this is just shortened to CRISPR. Basicly Cas9 cuts DNA and CRISPR tells it where to cut. All biologists have to do give the Cas9

The CRISPR-Cas9 complex is derived from the immune system of bacterial cells and also contains repurposed exogenous RNA’s responsible for editing the human genome.1 To edit a gene within the genome, researchers add a CRISPR RNA (crRNA), which is complementary to the DNA code of interest and is responsible for binding. The crRNA is engineered to be extremely specific to the code of interest. A trans-activating CRISPR RNA (tracrRNA) is also necessary for guiding all the pieces of the complex together to carry out the function of editing. The repurposed CRISPR-Cas9 complex contains two nucleases, RuvC and HNH, which perform noncomplementary strand cleavage and complementary

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.

This paper is going to focus on the Cas9 system. Cas9 has a general mechanism of how it works and operates. Further studies and modification to the system have introduced more ways for Cas9 to work. The general mechanism is cleaving the DNA intended DNA portion out of the host genome. This was the original defense mechanism used by bacteria against viruses. In this system, small RNA pieces seek out matching DNA sequences tell the Cas9 where to start cutting the DNA that was inserted by the virus. After the DNA had been cut it was put back together by repairing mechanisms called non homologous end joining (NHEJ) which will be explained later in the paper. One variation of this mechanism is called “nicking”. This modified the Cas9 nuclease to only cut one strand of DNA at a time. The benefit of nicking is that you are able to get a more specific cut of the DNA strand. Two mutations in the nuclease that are relevant for this mutation are. Not only does CRISPR Cas 9 cut out genes it has also been modified for turning on fluorescence. Another function Cas9 can do is break open DNA to make it possible for the insertion of more genes. All of these

Gene editing used to be a relatively painful and laborious process until the development of CRISPR. In short (and seriously abridging the complex science), CRISPR stands for “Clustered Regularly-Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats” and are segments of genetic code that, paired with an enzyme such as “Cas9,” have the potential to modify the genes of nearly every organism. The development of CRISPR is to genetics what the development of word processors was to writers; I type, delete, copy, and paste words in this essay (much like what CRISPR can do with genes) elegantly on

Over the course of many centuries, medical technology has developed to a great extent. Studies show that recent equipment has evolved more in the last ten to twenty years than in the past thousand years. Before human time, people learned to treat themselves by just using natural substances. Now-a-days, our hi-tech systems in the medical field have been created for the most effective tools for a high level of patient care. While they advance the tools, it will then allow for quicker diagnosis, less pain, and fewer costs, which in the end will help save more lives. Some people are accepting that modern technology can buy them more time to live while others might find it quite alarming because they fear

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

In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between