The Class 2 Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR) system is an adaptive immune system in bacteria. It's been modified for genome engineering and used for many other applications in biology. From base editing, to prime editing, to RNA editing, there's a lot of ways that CRISPR can be used. Learn more!
Read our CRISPR 101 blog posts for the basics on CRISPR: the components of CRISPR, gRNAs, and much more!
CRISPR endonucleases, or Cas proteins, cut nucleic acids based on the guide RNA sequence. Cas proteins come in many forms and have been adapted for different functions such as cutting DNA or RNA. Read these blog posts to learn about different Cas proteins.
Guide RNAs (gRNAs) are short synthetic RNA sequences that are composed of a scaffold sequence for Cas binding and a user-defined ~20 nucleotide region that defines the genomic target to be modified. Changing the target sequence in the gRNA allows you to change the genomic target of the Cas protein. Learn more about how you can design and modify gRNAs.
There are many ways to deliver Cas proteins and gRNAs into your desired cells ranging from delivering Cas9-gRNA ribonucleoproteins, packaging them in a viral particle, and more.
Base editing adapts CRISPR components to make precise changes in the genome. There are two main classes of base editors: cytosine base editors and adenine base editors. Learn how you can use base editors to make precise changes.
In these blog posts, find tips and tricks on protocols using CRISPR. These encompass anything from tips for first time CRISPR users, new methods, and ways to improve CRISPR editing in your experiment.
Pooled libraries are single preparations that each contain many different plasmids. Plasmids in a pooled library have the same backbone, but express or target different genes. CRISPR pooled libraries are packed in lenvirus and each vector contains an individual gRNA targeting a single gene. CRISPR libraries contain 3-6 gRNAs targeting each gene.
By combining a catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) and a fluorescent protein, researchers can monitor DNA loci using fluorescence microscopy in living cells. Visualization methods take many forms from fusing gRNAs to aptamers tagged with fluorescent proteins, to fusing fluorescent proteins to dCas9. CRISPR imaging has many advantages including that it’s easily customizable with gRNA design and can be used to simultaneously detect multiple genomic loci.
Didn’t see a CRISPR tool you were looking for in the above sections? This catch-all has the rest. This section also contains quarterly updates on new CRISPR plasmid tools available at Addgene.
Aside from genome editing in basic research, CRISPR can has been adapted for many applications. Read more about these applications, such as using CRISPR as an antimicrobial or for editing genes associated with disease.
While CRISPR is a widely powerful tool, there are many precautions needed to use CRISPR in a safe and ethical way. This section provides information that discusses the safety and bioethics of using CRISPR.
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