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CRISPR cuts turn gels into biological watchdogs

Wunderkind gene-editing tool used to trigger smart materials that can deliver drugs and sense biological signals.
  1. Ewen Callaway
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Is there anything CRISPR can’t do? Scientists have wielded the gene-editing tool to make scores of genetically modified organisms, as well as to track animal development, detect diseases and control pests. Now, they have found yet another application for it: using CRISPR to create smart materials that change their form on command.

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Nature 572, 574 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02542-3

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 27 August 2019: An earlier version of this story wrongly stated that the hydrogels were programmed to release drugs. In fact, researchers programmed the gels to release non-drug small molecules. The description of the way in which wireless signals from samples were detected has also been corrected.

References

  1. English, M. et al. Science 365, 780–785 (2019).

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