Researchers from Utah State University had two papers published in a major research journal earlier this month, focused on the discovery and details of a new CRISPR immune system.
USU biochemists Thomson Hallmark and Ryan Jackson partnered with Germany’s Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research, biotechnology company Benson Hill and the University of Texas at Austin in researching the system, called Cas12a2. Two papers covering their work appeared in the Jan. 4, 2023 edition of Nature.
CRISPR, or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, are bacterial defense systems that can target genetic code. CRISPR contain genetic memories of past invaders, giving the systems a head start when combating them in the future.
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