Super-fast DNA Repair tagged posts

Light-activated ‘CRISPR’ Triggers Precision Gene Editing and Super-fast DNA Repair

In a time-lapse video over eight hours, a high-powered microscope captures the moment when the CRISPR-Cas9 complex cuts two copies of a gene (red glow in blue circle and purple square) in a living cell. Scale Bar: 5 µm. Credit: Yang Liu, Johns Hopkins Medicine

In a series of experiments using human cancer cell lines, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully used light as a trigger to make precise cuts in genomic material rapidly, using a molecular scalpel known as CRISPR, and observe how specialized cell proteins repair the exact spot where the gene was cut.

Results of the experiments, published June 11 in Science, not only reveal new details about the DNA repair process, but also are likely, the researchers say, to speed up and aid understanding of the DNA a...

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