Author: Tristan Greene / Source: The Next Web
An international team of scientists recently unveiled a new CRISPR-based tool capable of shredding long portions of targeted DNA strands. The new technique provides advantages over previous methods and could potentially lead to a cure for viral diseases such as herpes and hepatitis-C.
The new tool is called Type I CRISPR-Cas3. It’s a long-range DNA targeting and editing tool – it can delete longer sections of DNA than its predecessor, the Type II CRISPR–Cas9. The “Type I” and “Type II” distinctions indicate which kind of CRISPR bacteria DNA the tools are based on. The Cas3 version is the only CRISPR tool utilizing Type I, which is more commonly found in bacteria than Type II CRISPR DNA.
It was developed by a team of researchers led by University of Michigan scientist Yan Zhang, and has a myriad of potential applications. Primarily, the new technique can target sections of DNA further away than the previous technique. Scientists could potentially use…
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