CRISPR Cas9 for Dummies

From Synthego

I have to admit that the ongoing revolution in gene editing can be more than a bit confusing -first there were transgenics, then targeted mutations, conditional mutations, zinc fingers and TALENs ...   Most recently we have CRISPR Cas9.   Because it looks like this method really is the holy grail of gene editing, it's time for a few basics (even for those of us clinicians who qualified when gene editing wasn't even a gleam in some researcher's eye).



1. In what categories of organism was the CRISPR Cas9 system discovered?
2. What was its "native" purpose?
3. What does CRISPR Cas9 stand for?
4. If we say that transgenic mice are created by inserting genetic material into the male pronucleus of the oocyte by microinjection,  and gene-targeted (knockout) mice are created by inserting genetically modified ES cells into the blastocyst by microinjection, how are CRISPR Cas9 mice created?
5. True/False: CRISPR Cas9 has been used to make genetic modifications in plants, multiple animal species and human genetic material.
6. From which organism is the most commonly-used type of Cas9?
7. What 2 functional components constitute the CRISPR Cas9 system?
8. True of false. The CRISPR Cas9 system relies upon the host cell-repair system to function.
9. True or false: CRISPR Cas9 can be used to knock out genes, to knock in genes and to study the genome wide function of genes and non-genomic DNA through interference.
10. True or false: to date CRISPR Cas9 improves upon existing methods for gene modification in all areas.


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