CRISPR

CRISPR Cas9 explained. CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) are segments of prokaryotic DNA containing short repetitions of base sequences. is an RNA-guided gene-editing platform that makes use of a bacterially derived protein (Cas9) and a synthetic guide RNA to introduce a double strand break at a specific location within the genome.

Cas9 is an enzyme that snips DNA, and CRISPR is a collection of DNA sequences that tells Cas9 exactly where to snip.

Patent office determines UC, Broad Institute patent claims on CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing are separately patentable

February 15, 2017

Jennifer Doudna. Photo by Keegan Houser.The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today ruled that the inventions claimed in the pending U.S. patent application filed by the Doudna/Charpentier research group and the patents and applications filed by the Broad Institute are separately patentable from one another, thereby moving the...

CRISPR research institute expands into agriculture, microbiology

January 25, 2017

Reflection of trees in Strawberry Creek. Photo by Keegan Houser.An initiative launched two years ago by UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco to use CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to develop new disease therapies is expanding into research on the planet’s major crops and poorly understood microbiomes, with plans to invest $125 million in these areas over the next five years.

Compact CRISPR systems found in some of world’s smallest microbes

December 22, 2016

Jennifer DoudnaUC Berkeley scientists have discovered simple CRISPR systems similar to CRISPR-Cas9 — a gene-editing tool that has revolutionized biology — in previously unexplored bacteria that have eluded efforts to grow them in the laboratory.

Doudna calls for human gene-editing moratorium

March 23, 2015

Jennifer DoudnaWriting in Science magazine, Inventor of CRISPR technique urges effort to explore ethical issues.

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Faster, more efficient CRISPR editing in mice

May 27, 2016

DNA helixBerkeley scientists have developed a quicker and more efficient method to alter the genes of mice with CRISPR-Cas9. The work benefited from input from Professor Jennifer Doudna.

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Doudna named foreign member of UK’s Royal Society

April 29, 2016

Jennifer DoudnaBiochemist Jennifer Doudna has been named a foreign member of the prestigious Royal Society, a rare honor for a UC Berkeley faculty member.

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Doudna receives Canada’s Gairdner Award as CRISPR sweeps field

March 23, 2016

DoudnaJennifer Doudna shares 2016 Canada Gairdner International Awards with four others for discovering and re-engineering the CRISPR-Cas9 system.

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Doudna among 2016 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize Recipients

March 10, 2016

DoundaFor remarkable contributions to the understanding of the CRISPR bacterial defense system and the revolutionary discovery that it can be adapted for genome editing.

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