CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool for Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 complex (SaCas9) @ MIT’s Broad Institute

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CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool for Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 complex (SaCas9) @ MIT’s Broad Institute

August 30, 2015 by 2012pharmaceutical

CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool for Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 complex (SaCas9) @ MIT’s Broad Institute

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Zhang lab unlocks crystal structure of new CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool

Paul Goldsmith, August 27th, 2015

2.2.23

2.2.23 CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool for Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 complex (SaCas9) @ MIT’s Broad Institute, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 2: CRISPR for Gene Editing and DNA Repair

SaCas9 (pictured above) is expected to pave the way for smaller
genome-editing tools. Image courtesy of Le Cong, Broad Institute

In a paper published today in Cell researchers from the Broad Institute and University of Tokyo revealed the crystal structure of theStaphylococcus aureus Cas9 complex (SaCas9)—a highly efficient enzyme that overcomes one of the primary challenges to in vivo mammalian genome editing.

First identified as a potential genome-editing tool by Broad Institute core member Feng Zhangand his colleagues (and published by Zhang lab in April 2015), SaCas9 is expected to expand scientists’ ability to edit genomes in vivo. This new structural study will help researchers refine and further engineer this promising tool to accelerate genomic research and bring the technology closer to use in the treatment of human genetic disease.

“SaCas9 is the latest addition to our Cas9 toolbox, and the crystal shows us its blueprint,” said co-senior author Feng Zhang, who in addition to his Broad role, is also an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and an assistant professor at MIT. “This study shows further paths forward for optimizing this technology for the benefit of global health.”

http://www.broadinstitute.org/blog/zhang-lab-unlocks-crystal-structure-new-crisprcas9-genome-editing-tool

Posted in CRISPR/Cas9 & Gene Editing | 1 Comment

One Response

on August 31, 2015 at 2:01 AM | Reply gerag2015

This is very insightful. There is no doubt that there is the bias you refer to. 42 years ago, when I was postdocing in biochemistry/enzymology before completing my residency in pathology, I knew that there were very influential mambers of the faculty, who also had large programs, and attracted exceptional students. My mentor, it was said (although he was a great writer), could draft a project on toilet paper and call the NIH. It can’t be true, but it was a time in our history preceding a great explosion. It is bizarre for me to read now about eNOS and iNOS, and about CaMKII-á, â, ã, ä – isoenzymes. They were overlooked during the search for the genome, so intermediary metabolism took a back seat. But the work on protein conformation, and on the mechanism of action of enzymes and ligand and coenzyme was just out there, and became more important with the research on signaling pathways. The work on the mechanism of pyridine nucleotide isoenzymes preceded the work by Burton Sobel on the MB isoenzyme in heart. The Vietnam War cut into the funding, and it has actually declined linearly since.

A few years later, I was an Associate Professor at a new Medical School and I submitted a proposal that was reviewed by the Chairman of Pharmacology, who was a former Director of NSF. He thought it was good enough. I was a pathologist and it went to a Biochemistry Review Committee. It was approved, but not funded. The verdict was that I would not be able to carry out the studies needed, and they would have approached it differently. A thousand young investigators are out there now with similar letters. I was told that the Department Chairmen have to build up their faculty. It’s harder now than then. So I filed for and received 3 patents based on my work at the suggestion of my brother-in-law. When I took it to Boehringer-Mannheim, they were actually clueless.

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