Team:Arizona State

We are Arizona State University's first iGEM team, working over the summer for the 2011 International Genetically Engineered Machine competition.

Abstract

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) are a genomic feature of many prokaryotic and archaeal species. CRISPR functions as an adaptive immune system, targeting exogenous sequences that match spacers integrated into the genome. Our project focuses on developing a set of tools for synthetic control over the CRISPR pathway. This includes a method for creating polymers of repeat-spacer-repeat units, the development of CRISPR biobricks (CAS genes, leader sequences) for several CRISPR subtypes (E. coli, B. halodurans, and L. innocua), testing these components on plasmids containing GFP, and a software tool to collect and display CRISPR information, as well as select spacers from a particular sequence. Given the relatively recent progress in the scientific understanding of this system, we see the potential for a wide range of biotechnological applications of CRISPR in the future.

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What is CRISPR?

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) are a genomic feature of many prokaryotic and archeal species. CRISPR functions as an adaptive immune system. A CRISPR locus consists of a set of CAS (CRISPR associated) genes, a leader, or promoter, sequence, and an array. This array consists of repeating elements along with "spacers". These spacer regions direct the CRISPR machinery to degrade or otherwise inactivate a complementary sequence in the cell.

A basic diagram of the CRISPR pathway. In this image, a CRISPR array is transcribed and used to locate a complementary sequence in the cell for degradation. More information.