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CRISPR tool puts RNA on the record

The bacterial-defence system CRISPR–Cas can store DNA snippets that correspond to encountered viral RNA sequences. One such system has now been harnessed to record gene expression over time in bacteria.
  1. Chase L. Beisel

    1. Chase L. Beisel is at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research and the University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany.

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Determining the gene-expression profile of a cell is crucial to unlocking how its DNA blueprint gives rise to its physical characteristics and behaviours. The standard approach used currently involves RNA sequencing or single-cell imaging techniques that generate detailed snapshots of gene-expression profiles. However, these techniques capture such profiles only at the moment of analysis, and kill the cells. This makes it hard to capture fleeting gene-expression profiles or those that provide a complete picture of cells going through major behavioural or environmental changes. Writing in Nature, Schmidt et al.1 report progress in overcoming this challenge by enlisting a bacterial-defence system that can create a DNA record of specific RNA sequences in a cell.

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Nature 562, 347-349 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06869-1

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