PremiumScientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI) have shown that the highly efficient functioning of this platform at low temperatures, making it possible to edit genes in temperature sensitive organisms, plants, or crop varieties
New Delhi: Furthering research in the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing technology that bagged the Nobel Prize in 2020, Indian scientists have demonstrated that the associated Cas9 enzyme, which acts as molecular scissors to cut DNA at a location specified by a guide RNA, can bind to and cut the target DNA at very low temperatures.
Scientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI) have shown that the highly efficient functioning of this platform at low temperatures, making it possible to edit genes in temperature sensitive organisms, plants, or crop varieties.
“CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) are short DNA sequences found in the genome of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria, which are reminders of previous bacteriophage (viruses) attacks that the bacteria successfully defended against. Cas9 enzyme (part of bacteria’s defence mechanism) uses these flags to precisely target and cut any foreign DNA, thus protecting the bacteria from future attacks by similar bacteriophages," said the Ministry of Science & Technology.
The ministry added that unprecedented precision of targeting the DNA sequences and then efficiently cutting them is the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which has been recently demonstrated in editing genes in cells and organisms.
CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been successfully used for many purposes, including basic studies of gene function, agriculture, and medicine to increase our knowledge of disease processes and their potential future therapies. “So far, most binding trials were typically performed at 37 °C," the ministry said.
As a further step to advance this platform into the forefront of biomedical and analytical biotechnology, RRI scientists have explored temperature-dependent binding and release of cleaved products by the Cas9 enzyme.
The research published in the Scientific Reports journal of the Nature Portfolio expands possible application of the Cas9-based genetic toolbox to a previously unexplored temperature range that would be compatible with long-term storage of biological samples.