Crispr/cas9 a new approach to genome engineering

Maryam Daemi,1,* Sara bordbar,2

1. Department of Biology, Factulty of Science, University of Isfahan (UI), Darvaze Shiraz, Isfahan, 81746-73441 Isfahan, Ir
2. Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor,

Abstract

Introduction

In 1987, scientists found an acquired immune system in e.coli genome, included series of short repetitive interspaced palindromic sequences, separated by the non-repetitive sequence “spacer”. this array was later called as crispr (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats). crispr is a family of dna sequences in bacteria that contains snippets of dna from viruses, which attack the bacterium. these snippets along with the cas9 (crispr-associated protein) are used by the bacterium to detect and destroy dna from further attacks by similar viruses. this review is mainly designed to compile the previous studies on crispr/cas9, its applications and mechanism of action. in addition, the comparison between this technique efficacy and other traditional methods is presented, and the future challenges are discussed.

Methods

The literature was systematically reviewed based on clinical documents, related books as well as reliable and scientific articles.

Results

The previous studies were revealed the crispr-cas9 as a potential genome engineering tool in biology and biomedicine in treatment of genetic diseases. the future developments of applying crispr/cas9 technique could be included as follow: - establishment of screens for target identification - human gene therapy by gene repair and gene disruption - programmable rna targeting.

Conclusion

Crispr/cas9 technology is found to be faster, simpler, more accurate and cost effective, that can edit genome without mutation, having the ability to target multiple dna sites simultaneously. this method is widely used in agricultural science, transgenic animal generation, human embryo genetic modification and treatment of diseases like cancer.

Keywords

Genome editing, crispr, cas9 endonuclease, guide-rna, genetic diseases