The development of tools like this marks a significant leap forward in our ability to harness evolution directly within human cells. By allowing targeted mutagenesis in specific parts of the genome, this tool opens the door to creating enzymes and treatments that were previously out of reach.
HACE combines CRISPR's precision with the ability to edit long stretches of DNA, making it a powerful tool for targeted evolution.
Unlike current methods for mutagenesis, which involve inserting extra copies of genes or broadly mutating many different genes at once, HACE offers the advantage of being directed to locations - like going to a specific address, rather than a neighborhood.
The team's novel bioengineering involves combining a helicase, which is an enzyme that naturally 'unzips' DNA, with a gene-editing enzyme. They then use the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to guide the protein pair.
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