Using CRISPR Genetic Technology to Catch Cancer in the Act

scitechdaily ^ | January 24, 2021 | Eva Frederick, Whitehead Institute

[BenLurkin]

Scientists have tracked the lineages of cancer cells in the past by comparing shared mutations and other variations in their DNA blueprints. These methods...depend to a certain extent on there being enough naturally occurring mutations or other markers to accurately show relationships between cells.

...

Instead of simply hoping that a cancer lineage contained enough lineage-specific markers to track, the researchers decided to use Chan’s method to add in markers themselves. “Basically, the idea is to engineer a cell that has a genomic scratchpad of DNA, that then can be ‘written’ on using CRISPR,” Weissman says. This ‘writing’ in the genome is done in such a way that it becomes heritable, meaning a cell’s grand-offspring would have the ‘writing’ of its parent cells and grandparent cells recorded in its genome.

To create these special “scratchpad” cells, Weissman engineered human cancer cells with added genes: one for the bacterial protein Cas9 — the famed “molecular scissors” used in CRISPR genome editing methods — others for glowing proteins for microscopy, and a few sequences that would serve as targets for the CRISPR technology.

They then implanted thousands of the modified human cancer cells into mice, mimicking a lung tumor... Mice with human lung tumors often exhibit aggressive metastases, so the researchers reasoned they would provide a good model for tracking cancer progression in real time.

As the cells began to divide, Cas9 made small cuts at these target sites. When the cell repaired the cuts, it patched in or deleted a few random nucleotides, leading to a unique repair sequence called an indel. This cutting and repairing happened randomly in nearly every generation, creating a map of cell divisions that Weissman and the team could then track using special computer models that they created by working with Yosef, a computer scientist.

[Magnatron]

My son (who’s a real rocket scientist working on spacecraft for the Mars mission) talks about CRISPR all the time. He’s far over my head, but it sounds like pretty exciting technology.

Of course, I’ll probably die the day before they solve death from aging and cancer...

[Irenic]

There was an interesting documentary that was crazy and a bit scary that wouldn’t have been possible without CRISPR.

CITIZEN BIO

There are several good docs on CRISPR, pretty interesting.

[Irenic]

Some links on Citizen Bio for any interested:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/style/biohacker-death-aaron-traywick.html

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/citizen-bio-diy-biology-biohackers-showtime-documentary

[PMAS]

I’m pretty sure the chinese are using CRISPR to make 9 foot Super Soldiers with night vision