How does CRISPR work?
CRISPR makes gene editing faster, cheaper, and easier than ever before. Here's how.
How Does CRISPR Work?
Published May 23, 2018
Andre Fenton: CRISPR stands for: clustered, regularly, interspaced, short, palindromic, repeats. That’s why it’s just called “CRISPR”.
First discovered in bacteria, CRISPRs are like bacterial immune systems. They have two key parts: a destroyer protein—like one called CAS 9—and a piece of RNA that matches old viruses that previously infected the bacteria.
If the same virus were to invade again, the RNA would recognize the invader’s DNA, attach itself to its old enemy and its CAS partner would slice the virus’s DNA—destroying it.
A few years ago, some researchers realized they could use CRISPR to edit the genome of any living organism.
Here’s the idea: Say I have a stretch of DNA—maybe a part of a gene—I’d like to change. If I know the sequence of letters there—I can build a CRISPR that carries a matching code.
Once inside the cell—CRISPR will scan the DNA until it finds that exact spot. And when it does, it slices the DNA right there.
Now I have a broken gene…but it turns out, I can now insert a new sequence into the gap, and that makes CRISPR potentially an extremely powerful tool.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
- Digital Producer
- Michael Rivera
- CAN WE MAKE LIFE?
- Produced, and Directed by
- Larry Klein
- © WGBH Educational Foundation 2018
