Can we turn upâor dial downâtheir fervor by tweaking their genes?
Enter a new kind of CRISPR. Known mostly as a multi-tool to cut, snip, edit, or otherwise kneecap an existing gene, this versionâdubbed CRISPRaâforcibly turns genes on. Optimized by scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco, the tool is counterbalanced by CRISPRiââiâ for âinterference,â which, you guessed it, interferes with the geneâs expression.
Though previously used in immortal cells grown in labs, this is the first time these CRISPR tools are rejiggered for cells extracted from our bodies. Together, the tools simultaneously screened nearly 20,000 genes in T cells isolated from humans, building a massive genetic translatorâfrom genes to functionâthat maps how individual genes influence T cells.