Mojo Hand, a TALEN design tool for genome editing applications

Area of Science:

• Molecular Biology
• Genomics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Transcription activator-like (TAL) effector domains fused to nucleases (TALENs) show significant promise for genome editing.
• Designing effective TALENs involves selecting genetic features, identifying binding sites, and sometimes finding restriction sites for molecular applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present Mojo Hand, a web-based program designed to facilitate the creation of TAL and TALEN constructs for genome editing.
• To describe the algorithm and implementation of the Mojo Hand program.

Main Methods:

• The Mojo Hand program automatically downloads genomic data from NCBI.
• It analyzes DNA sequences to identify TAL binding sites based on user-defined templates.
• The tool facilitates the selection of restriction enzyme sites within the spacer region and generates output files compatible with Golden Gate assembly for TALEN construction.

Main Results:

• Mojo Hand enables automated identification of TAL binding sites crucial for TALEN design.
• The program simplifies the process of selecting appropriate restriction sites for downstream applications.
• Output files are formatted for efficient TALEN construction using the Golden Gate assembly method.

Conclusions:

• Mojo Hand accelerates the identification of TAL binding sites for TALEN design.
• The program, combined with management aids, simplifies TALEN construct assembly.
• Mojo Hand empowers scientists to deploy TALENs more rapidly for genome editing research.