• Question: Have you or other people you know discovered proteins other than CAS9 that can be used for genetic editation? If so, where can they be found?

    Asked by Lang to Sian, Max, Lizzie, Francis, Ben on 8 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Lizzie Wright

      Lizzie Wright answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      Great question! Sadly, I have not! I believe one of the other scientists works with CRISPR though, so he might have done!

    • Photo: Max Jamilly

      Max Jamilly answered on 13 Mar 2018:

      Great question! The most common type of Cas9 was discovered in a species of bacteria called S. pyogenes, and it turns out that many other bacterial species have similar proteins which are used to defend against viral infection.

      We have isolated many of these. The best-known alternative is Cpf1, which has a similar function to Cas9 but works in a slightly different way. And many labs have evolved their own special versions of Cas9 which work even better than the natural version. It’s a really exciting area to study!

      Have a look at the wikipedia page for CRISPR-associated enzymes if you have the chance.

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