Linkedin background photo nature8/6/2023 ![]() ![]() Two years ago, Zhang lab members discovered a class of RNA-programmable systems in prokaryotes called OMEGAs, which are often linked with transposable elements, or “jumping genes,” in bacterial genomes and likely gave rise to CRISPR-Cas systems. “A number of years ago, we started to ask, ‘What is there beyond CRISPR, and are there other RNA-programmable systems out there in nature?’” says Zhang. “This new system is another way to make precise changes in human cells, complementing the genome editing tools we already have.”Ī major aim of the Zhang lab is to develop genetic medicines using systems that can modulate human cells by targeting specific genes and processes. ![]() “CRISPR-based systems are widely used and powerful because they can be easily reprogrammed to target different sites in the genome,” says Zhang, senior author on the study, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience in the MIT departments of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, an investigator at MIT’s McGovern Institute, a core institute member at the Broad Institute, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. The new study demonstrates that RNA-guided DNA-cutting mechanisms are present across all kingdoms of life. The compact Fanzor systems have the potential to be more easily delivered to cells and tissues as therapeutics than CRISPR-Cas systems, and further refinements to improve their targeting efficiency could make them a valuable new technology for human genome editing.ĬRISPR-Cas was first discovered in prokaryotes (bacteria and other single-cell organisms that lack nuclei) and scientists including those in Zhang’s lab have long wondered whether similar systems exist in eukaryotes. They showed that Fanzor proteins use RNA as a guide to target DNA precisely, and that Fanzors can be reprogrammed to edit the genome of human cells. ![]() In a study published today in Nature, the team describes how the system is based on a protein called Fanzor. A team of researchers led by Feng Zhang at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has uncovered the first programmable RNA-guided system in eukaryotes - organisms that include fungi, plants, and animals. ![]()
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