CRISPR Cas System: Applications in Gene Editing and Beyond

Gene editing with the CRISPR-Cas system has been called “one of the biggest technologies of the decade” for its applications in medicine, agriculture, and much more. And in this course we will delve deep into the details of gene editing and why it is being seen as a promising strategy for the treatment of numerous genetic diseases like sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, etc to the generation of engineered crops, wiping out of malaria causing mosquitoes and others. You will get advanced learning of how CRISPR functions as a gene-editing tool, its comparison to other gene editing tools like Zinc Finger Nucleases, TALENs, etc, components of the CRISPR-Cas system, and the different ways in which CRISPR can be applied to healthcare, agriculture, and many other industries.

The beauty of the CRISPR system is that its applications extend much further beyond just gene editing.

For instance, the CRISPR-Cas system can be used as a powerful tool to regulate gene expression. In this course, we will learn how scientists have been modifying the CRISPR system to reversibly activate or silence genes and edit the epigenome in previously unimaginable ways. This can open the doors to new treatment options and a better understanding of human pathogenesis.

This course will cover how fluorescent proteins can be attached to the components of CRISPR-Cas to detect and locate the positions of specific DNA sequences on the chromosomes. This, in turn, can be useful to visualize the 3D architecture of the genome or to know various chromosomal abnormalities, including deletions, duplications, and translocations that influence cell function in normal and diseased states.

Additionally, we will also discuss, how using CRISPR, the researchers have expanded chromatin immunoprecipitation or ChIP to identify proteins associated with a particular genomic sequence.

Further in this course, we will talk about how scientists have harnessed the CRISPR-Cas technology for diagnosing infectious diseases including COVID-19.

The limitations and challenges of the CRISPR-Cas system have also been discussed. Additionally, this course will provide a detailed discussion on CRISPR-mediated precise gene editing techniques like prime editing and base editing, that can revolutionize the treatment of genetic diseases while limiting the negative effects of the CRISPR-Cas system. For precise gene editing and non-gene editing applications, several variants of Cas9 nuclease have been engineered. In this course, you will get a thorough understanding of these variants, their engineering, and their significance.

This course is an invaluable resource for medical students, doctors, and students of disciplines like biotechnology, biology, immunology, genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, and bioinformatics. In the course, the most challenging concepts are presented in a simple and palatable format using animations and graphics.