CRISPR-GRANT: a cross-platform graphical analysis tool for high-throughput CRISPR-based genome editing evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Molecular Biology
• Genomics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• CRISPR/Cas is a powerful genome editing tool with significant biomedical potential.
• Indel analysis is crucial for evaluating CRISPR/Cas DNA editing events.
• Existing indel analysis tools often require bioinformatics expertise and command-line skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a user-friendly, stand-alone graphical tool for CRISPR indel analysis.
• To simplify the process of analyzing genome editing events for wet-lab researchers.
• To provide an accessible solution for analyzing next-generation sequencing data.

Main Methods:

• Development of CRISPR-GRANT, a graphical user interface (GUI) tool.
• Cross-platform compatibility (Linux, Windows, macOS).
• One-step analysis for single/pooled amplicons and whole-genome sequencing data.

Main Results:

• CRISPR-GRANT offers a simple click-and-run interface, ideal for novice users.
• The tool requires no pre-processing of sequencing data.
• CRISPR-GRANT demonstrates a shorter run-time compared to existing tools.

Conclusions:

• CRISPR-GRANT significantly lowers the barrier for wet-lab researchers in performing indel analysis.
• It is a valuable addition to CRISPR toolkits for analyzing large next-generation sequencing datasets.
• The software is freely available for download and use.