University of Florida Develops World’s First DNA-Guided CRISPR System

A team of engineers at the University of Florida has developed the world's first CRISPR system that uses DNA instead of RNA to guide gene-editing enzymes. Published in Nature Biotechnology, the breakthrough challenges the long-standing assumption that RNA must be used as the guide in CRISPR-based RNA editing tools.

The team explained that while RNA acts as a working copy of genetic instructions, errors in these copies can cause serious consequences. The researchers engineered CRISPR to use DNA as a guide to improve the stability and precision of selectively targeting and regulating RNA molecules inside cells. “It gives us a way to fix or tune the instructions the cell is using in real time, without immediately changing the DNA,” said lead author Piyush Jain, an associate professor and the Shah Rising Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida.

The DNA-guided system showed significantly improved precision and could detect viral infections such as HIV and hepatitis C with 100% accuracy. After decades of research based on RNA-guided CRISPR systems, the study introduces a fundamentally new approach for directing one of biology's most powerful gene-editing tools. The team believes the technology could advance diagnostics and therapies, with early clinical applications possible within a few years.

For more information, read the article from the University of Florida.