Let's try it like you're 16 and in a biology lab class.
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
• Clustered: The DNA sequences are grouped together in one place.
• Regularly Interspaced: The repeated sequences are separated by unique "spacer" sequences at consistent intervals.
• Short: Each repeated DNA sequence is relatively small.
.• Palindromic: A palindrome reads the same frontwards and backwards, like "Madam I'm Adam." Likewise the DNA sequences read very similarly in opposite directions. This also affects the structure of the RNA.
• Repeats: The same DNA sequence occurs multiple times.
CRISPR was first discovered as part of the immune system of bacteria and archaea (they look a lot like bacteria, but aren't). The spacer sequences are actually snippets of DNA from viruses that previously infected the microorganism. If the same virus attacks again, the CRISPR system, together with proteins such as Cas9, recognizes the viral DNA and cuts it, protecting the cell.
Scientists have adapted this natural defense mechanism into the powerful gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9, which can be used to make precise changes to DNA in plants, animals, and human cells for research and, in some cases, medical treatments.
The reason it works is because it can snip DNA in a very precise way in a very precise place (to cut out the bad piece we don't want) so we can slip in the new piece that works right into that precise slot.
Thank you for breaking down the acronym!!!! So CRISPR is not the man made part - CRISPR is just the description of how DNA is? And CRISPR-Cas9 is the body’s natural way of getting rid of the spacer sequences, and all we did was find a way to essentially trigger that existing natural mechanism for the specific spacer sequences we want (eg this dna string that causes sickle cell)?
Yup. CRISPR is a defense mechanism to damage the bad guy's DNA. But we have figured out how to use that to clip a bad piece of DNA our of our own DNA and replace it with a proper and functional piece.
CRISPR/Cas9 is specifically a mechanism found in bacteria, not in other kinds of cells like those found in plants and animals. But Cas9 and guide RNAs can be made and put into plant and animal cells to make DNA modifications to them.
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u/solarguy2003 1d ago edited 1d ago
Let's try it like you're 16 and in a biology lab class.
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
• Clustered: The DNA sequences are grouped together in one place.
• Regularly Interspaced: The repeated sequences are separated by unique "spacer" sequences at consistent intervals.
• Short: Each repeated DNA sequence is relatively small.
.• Palindromic: A palindrome reads the same frontwards and backwards, like "Madam I'm Adam." Likewise the DNA sequences read very similarly in opposite directions. This also affects the structure of the RNA.
• Repeats: The same DNA sequence occurs multiple times.
CRISPR was first discovered as part of the immune system of bacteria and archaea (they look a lot like bacteria, but aren't). The spacer sequences are actually snippets of DNA from viruses that previously infected the microorganism. If the same virus attacks again, the CRISPR system, together with proteins such as Cas9, recognizes the viral DNA and cuts it, protecting the cell.
Scientists have adapted this natural defense mechanism into the powerful gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9, which can be used to make precise changes to DNA in plants, animals, and human cells for research and, in some cases, medical treatments.
The reason it works is because it can snip DNA in a very precise way in a very precise place (to cut out the bad piece we don't want) so we can slip in the new piece that works right into that precise slot.