CRISPR Gene Silencing Tool

One way to find out what a gene does is to shut it off and observe how the cell responds. However, current techniques often turn off untargeted genes as well, making it harder to understand the effects. Now scientists have found a “crisper” way to deactivate a specific gene. The new technique, which is based on the CRISPR interference mechanism that bacteria use to fight off viruses, silences a target gene while having little effect on other genes. The method is a valuable new tool for exploring gene functions and offers a new therapeutic strategy for quieting overly active genes in diseases like cancer.
Source: NIGMS Biomedical Beat - Category: Research Source Type: news