CRISPR
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, Crispr for short is a dna sequence that can be used by the cas9 system of rna guided nucleases that effectively cleaves the section of dna containing a specific genome to repair or alter that specified genome. The crispr system is an adaptive immune system that is used and regulated by microbes and cells to defend against foreign substances and viruses by recognizing and eliminating the specific dna sequence associated with that virus. Most crispr systems contain 20-24 regularly spaced palindromic bases separated by spacers. The crispr cassettes are found in almost every archeon and almost half of bacteria studied. This provides a wide range of uses for the cas9 system and adds to the versatility of the system. We can use this system to replicate and code for specific genomes in animals and further understand how their traits are coded and replicated, we can create complex models for human inherited diseases or cancers, it can also be used to pinpoint the cause for underlying genetic processes by genome wide screening of the dna in any human cell. The origin of crispr however is the most intriguing aspect of the system. Being a biological system that was discovered and not a human engineered system, the origin is not entirely clear.
BIOL 200, General Biology
Paul Allee
P003
1:30 – 2:00 PM