A new genetic technique to modify RNA

RNA molecule with its bases
RNA molecule with its bases

An article published in the journal “Science” describes the discovery of a system similar to the various CRISPR, already used to modify the DNA, which instead can act on RNA (image ©BruceBlaus). A team led by biologist Zhang Feng of the Broad Institute discovered this new technique that could allow to apply temporary genetic changes that may be subsequently adjusted as required.

The biologist Feng Zhang is a specialist of this sector having worked to different type of genetic techniques of the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) type. In September 2015, a research was published about the discovery of the technique called CRISPR-CPF1 by a team led by Feng Zhang. Those are techniques connected to changes to the DNA using enzymes found in bacteria, which use them in their immune system to defend against viruses.

That kind of defense only works against DNA-based attackers but retroviruses are RNA.based. That’s why researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National Institutes of Health, Rutgers University-New Brunswick and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology studied other bacteria in search of defensive mechanisms against retroviruses.

The result was the discovery of a bacterium of the species Leptotrichia shahii that uses a defensive mechanism of that type which acts on the RNA of retroviruses thanks to an enzyme called C2c2. It can be exploited to develop genetic techniques programming it to act on precise RNA sequences that belong not to retroviruses but to other organisms in which can be used for encoding, decoding, and gene expression control.

The use of this new technique based on the C2c2 enzyme could complement the various CRISPR techniques based on DNA because the ability to change RNA offers more options. Depending on the type of intervention to be performed they’ll be able to choose the most suitable technique.

The discovery of the C2c2 enzyme is also important because the study of how it works can help us understand the role of RNA in diseases and in cell functions. In essence, it’s the expansion of genetic engineering frontiers but can also be a starting point for other types of progress in the field of medicine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *