CRISPR is at this power point well - know for it ’s powerful power to genetically engineer DNA , but more and more often scientists are turn to CRISPR for other labor as well .
In a report out Thursday in the daybook Science , CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna ’s UC Berkeley research laboratory depict a fascinating fresh use : Using CRISPR as a DNA detective to identify snipping of DNA that might signal a viral infections , Cancer the Crab , or even defective genes .
The system is knight DETECTR , shortsighted for the mouthful DNA Endonuclease Targeted CRISPR Trans Reporter . Typically , CRISPR is used to delete DNA ; it ’s engineering that allows scientist to more well than ever snip DNA in particular places , deleting factor or replacing them in ordination to do things like cure and study disease . The DETECR scheme uses CRISPR for something else entirely .
It work like this : Instead of Cas9 , the usual enzyme the CRISPR organization is paired with to cut DNA , Doudna ’s laboratory used Cas12a , an enzyme that can cut not just the DNA strands that it binds , but any single - strand DNA nearby . They can then program Cas12a using an RNA usher to hone in on specific targets . work with another research laboratory at UCSF , they programmed the CRISPR - Cas12a to assault signal from two types of cancer - causing HPV . In the vast majority of cases , it was able to identify the presence of HPV in human DNA samples , glowing when it launched an attack .
The method , researchers said , could be apply to identify other types of viral or bacterial infections , or even be programmed to run for cancer mark and chromosomal abnormality .
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