• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Drug Delivery Business

  • Clinical Trials
  • Research & Development
  • Drug-Device Combinations
  • FDA
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Policy

CRISPR uncovers drug compounds in bacterial genome

April 11, 2017 By Sarah Faulkner

CRISPR uncovers drug compounds in bacterial genomeResearchers at the University of Illinois and the Agency for Science, Technology & Research in Singapore are using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to uncover potentially useful drug compounds.

The team has used CRISPR-Cas9 to turn on “silent” gene clusters in Streptomyces and express genes that naturally produce drug compounds to be used as antibiotics or anti-cancer agents. Their work was published in Nature Chemical Biology.

“In the past, researchers just screened the natural products that bacteria made in the lab to search for new drugs,” lead author Huimin Zhao said in prepared remarks. “But once whole bacterial genomes were sequenced, we realized that we have only discovered a small fraction of the natural products coded in the genome.

“The vast majority of biosynthetic gene clusters are not expressed under laboratory conditions, or are expressed at very low levels. That’s why we call them silent. There are a lot of new drugs and new knowledge waiting to be discovered from these silent gene clusters. They are truly hidden treasures.”

The researchers used computational tools to identify small groups of genes involved in making chemical compounds. Then they used the CRISPR tool to insert a promoter sequence before each gene, triggering the cell to make the products that the clusters code for.

“This is a less-explored direction with the CRISPR technology. Most CRISPR-related research focuses on biomedical applications, like treating genetic diseases, but we are using it for drug discovery,” Zhao said. “In the past, it was very difficult to turn on or off a specific gene in Streptomyces species. With CRISPR, now we can target almost any gene with high efficiency.”

The team isolated and determined the structure of 1 of the novel compounds produced from a silent gene cluster. They observed that it has a fundamentally unique structure compared to other Streptomyces-derived drugs. Zhao pointed out that a new drug discovery method could lead to new classes of drugs that elude antibiotic resistance.

“Antimicrobial resistance is a global challenge. We want to find new modes of action, new properties, so we can uncover new ways to attack cancer or pathogens. We want to identify new chemical scaffolds leading to new drugs, rather than modifying existing types of drugs,” he added.

Filed Under: Discovery, Featured, Pharmaceuticals, Research & Development Tagged With: University of Illinois

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • Surmodics’ DCB shown non-inferior to Medtronic’s In.Pact Admiral
  • How continuous glucose monitors have transformed the diabetes landscape
  • Biden’s COVID-19 response will make manufacturers busy
  • Mylan must face EpiPen racketeering lawsuit
  • EmblemHealth to provide coverage for Senseonics’ Eversense CGM

Primary Sidebar

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Need Drug Delivery Business News in a minute? We Deliver!
Drug Delivery Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need in med tech. Sign up today.

Tweets by DrugDeliveryNow

Footer

MassDevice Medical NETWORK

MassDevice
DeviceTalks
Medical Design & Outsourcing
Medical Tubing + Extrusion

DRUG DELIVERY BUSINESS NEWS

Subscribe to Drug Delivery News
Advertise with us
About
Contact us
Privacy
Add us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterConnect with us on LinkedIn

Copyright © 2021 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Advertise | Privacy Policy | RSS