Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

CRISPR/Cas in genome defense and gene editing

Svetlana Kryštofová *

The Institute of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

E-mail: * svetlana.krystofova@stuba.sk

Abstract: Targeted genome editing using engineered nucleases such as ZFNs and TALENs has been rapidly replaced by the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered, regulatory interspaced, short palindromic/ CRISPR-associated nuclease) system. CRISPR/Cas9 technology represents a significant improvement enabling a new level of targeting, efficiency and simplicity. Gene editing mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 has been recently used not only in bacteria but in many eukaryotic cells and organisms, from yeasts to mammals. Other modifications of the CRISPR-Cas9 system have been used to introduce heterologous domains to regulate gene expressions or label specific loci in various cell types. The review focuses not only on native CRISPR/Cas systems which evolved in prokaryotes as an endogenous adaptive defense mechanism against foreign DNA attacks, but also on the CRISPR/Cas9 adoption as a powerful tool for site-specific gene modifications in fungi, plants and mammals.

Keywords: genome, CRISPR, Cas9, single guide RNA

Full paper in Portable Document Format: acs_0243.pdf

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2016, pp. 68—74, DOI: 10.1515/acs-2016-0012