Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short
Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)
This gene editing technology has proven to be a revolutionary discovery in cancer treatment because of its precise, fast, and efficient way of targeting specific oncogenes (cancer genes) and modifying those genes to improve the health of cancer patients. CRISPR along with the Cas9 protein, which consists of nucleases, and a guide RNA, is used to identify specific cancer sequences. Cas9 then acts as a molecular scissors to cleave the double stranded DNA strand and remove any mutated sequences (Li et al, 2019).
Cancer is an overgrowth of abnormal or mutated cells that can result in secondary infections,tumour development, or a weakened immune response. Cancer is affecting more than 19.3 million people across the world of all ages and within different organs of the body (Chhikara and Parang, 2023). There have been several conventional methods that have made several attempts at eliminating oncogenes from the human body. However, due to its rapid growth (metastasis), cancer has developed drug resistance to chemotherapy and radiation, which has become a major issue in treatment today. CRISPR/Cas9, due to its fast and efficient mechanism of targeting specific genes, has proven to be beneficial to improved cancer treatment and studies.
One method includes chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) therapy, which involves engineered T-cells that are used to target specific cancer treatment. Which allows for more efficient and effective targets of cancer cells within the human body. This technique can be done in any lab space and requires minimal resources to work, showing the efficiency of CRISPR.
CRISPR/Cas9 has also been used to activate tumour suppressor genes and drug resistance by modifying genes in cancer patients that will inhibit cancer growth and promote an increased immune response (Rabaan et al. 2023). Being able to modify genes that strengthen the immune response to a disease that is always mutating and growing has been remarkable.
However, with the many successes of CRISPR, there are some defaults in the CRISPR technology. Some of the major defaults being the off-targets, mutations, germline editing. Sometimes when a gene is been edited, unintended genes are modified that can result in mutations that can worsen the patient’s condition or the development of other infections. In addition, ethical issues surrounding germline editing are a growing concern, as once the gene is modified, it can be passed on to offspring and result in a generational health issue. CRISPR despite its defaults, has the potential to revolutionize molecular biology and the personalization of each cancer patient’s unique treatment and complications.
By Gabrielle Letford
"My name is Gabrielle Letford, a final year Animal Biology student. I have been exposed to several seminars about the revolutionary impact CRISPR/Cas9 has in cancer treatment. This truly sparked an interest to not only do research on the potential, benefits and defaults in this technology but to also share my discoveries with YOU!"
References
Chhikara, Bhupender & Parang, Keykavous. (2022). Global Cancer Statistics 2022: The Trends Projection Analysis. Chemical Biology Letters. 10. 451.
Li, Fei, Qingyuan Huang, Troy A. Luster, Hai Hu, Hua Zhang, Wai-Lung Ng, Alireza Khodadadi-Jamayran, et al. 2019. "In Vivo Epigenetic CRISPR Screen Identifies Asf1a as an Immunotherapeutic Target in Kras-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma." Cancer Discovery 10 (2): 270-87.https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.cd-19-0780
National Cancer Institute. 2021. "What Is Cancer?" National Cancer Institute. National Institutes of Health. October 11, 2021. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer
Rabaan, Ali A., Hajir AlSaihati, Rehab Bukhamsin, Muhammed A. Bakhrebah, Majed S. Nassar, Abdulmonem A. Alsaleh, Yousef N. Alhashem, et al. 2023. "Application of CRISPR/Cas9 Technology in Cancer Treatment: A Future Direction." Current Oncology 30 (2): 1954-76. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol30020152
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