How CRISPR is transforming drug discovery

Drug discovery is a multifaceted process involving extensive screening, testing, and optimization of lead compounds to identify potential new drugs for therapeutic use. It combines several approaches, including screening large numbers of natural products, chemical modification of known active molecules, identification of new drug targets, and rational design based on biological mechanisms and drug-receptor structure. These approaches are carried out in both academic research laboratories and...

Genome editing technologies allow scientists to modify an organism’s DNA via the addition, removal, or rearrangement of genetic material at specific genomic locations. These types of techniques could potentially be used to cure genetic disorders such as hemophilia and sickle cell anemia. One popular and widely used DNA-editing research tool that could lead to safe and effective cures for genetic disorders is the CRISPR-Cas9 system. CRISPR-Cas9 stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced...

Bacteria and archaea are susceptible to viral infections just like eukaryotes; therefore, they have developed a unique adaptive immune system to protect themselves. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) are present in more than 45% of known bacteria and 90% of known archaea.
The CRISPR-Cas system stores a copy of foreign DNA in the host genome and uses it to identify the foreign DNA upon reinfection. CRISPR-Cas has three different...

In 1928, bacteriologist Frederick Griffith worked on a vaccine for pneumonia, which is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. Griffith studied two pneumonia strains in mice: one pathogenic and one non-pathogenic. Only the pathogenic strain killed host mice.
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...

A device that transforms voltages from one value to another using induction is called a transformer. A transformer consists of two separate coils, or windings, wrapped around the same soft iron core. However, they are electrically insulated from each other.
The iron core has a substantial relative permeability. Therefore, the magnetic field lines generated due to the current in one winding are almost entirely confined within the core, such that the same magnetic flux permeates each turn of both...

Microbial communities are dynamic environments where cell lysis releases free DNA into the surroundings. Other cells can take up this extracellular DNA through a process known as transformation.When a cell incorporates this foreign DNA into its genome, resulting in genetic modification, the process is known as transformation. Cells capable of this process are termed competent. Competence can be natural, as observed in certain bacteria and archaea, or artificially induced in the...