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Sphere on Spiral Stairs

                                      News
Date: 29/05/2024
Sadiya published her research in Nanoscale. Congratulations!

Date: 26/04/2024
Dr. Mala Thapa got selected for the prestigious DBT RA Fellowship! Congratulations and welcome to the group!

Date: 26/03/2024
Sadiya Published a research article in ChemBioChem! Congratulations!

CRISPR: A Crispy Gift from Microorganism to Mankind

 

Every living species has its battle to fight for their existence. While we are fighting against infectious bacteria, these microorganisms are on constant attack from their own enemy, virus. In this microscopic warfare, both bacteria and viruses are well-equipped with sophisticated tools against each other. One such tool is CRISPR that bacteria use against the virus. CRISPR is a molecular scissor that can selectively attack the DNA of a virus and cut it into pieces. This damage in the DNA does not allow the virus to grow inside bacteria and kill. Over the years, scientists have harnessed and nurtured this bacterial defense CRISPR and developed promising gene-editing technologies to address numerous genetic diseases. We will discuss the fascinating story of CRISPR that ensured the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Prof. Jennifer Doudna and Prof. Emmanuelle Charpentier for their groundbreaking discovery.

 

References.

  1. Martin Jinek, Krzysztof Chylinski, Ines Fonfara, Michael Hauer, Jennifer A. Doudna, Emmanuelle Charpentier. A Programmable Dual-RNA–Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity. Science, 2012, 337, 816-821.

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Abstract
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) systems provide bacteria and archaea with adaptive immunity against viruses and plasmids by using CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) to guide the silencing of invading nucleic acids. We show here that in a subset of these systems, the mature crRNA that is base-paired to trans-activating crRNA (tracrRNA) forms a two-RNA structure that directs the CRISPR-associated protein Cas9 to introduce double-stranded (ds) breaks in target DNA. At sites complementary to the crRNA-guide sequence, the Cas9 HNH nuclease domain cleaves the complementary strand, whereas the Cas9 RuvC-like domain cleaves the noncomplementary strand. The dual-tracrRNA:crRNA, when engineered as a single RNA chimera, also directs sequence-specific Cas9 dsDNA cleavage. Our study reveals a family of endonucleases that use dual-RNAs for site-specific DNA cleavage and highlights the potential to exploit the system for RNA-programmable genome editing.

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Nobel Lecture series on CRISPR

Webinar, Conferences, Workshops

Virtual Symposium w/

@ChemBioChem on Chemical #Epigenetics  Fri, Dec.4, 3PM CET!

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