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TIGR-Tas
TIGR-Tas (Tandem Interspaced Guide RNA-associated proteins) is a family of RNA-guided DNA-targeting systems discovered in prokaryotes and their viruses. These systems utilize a dual-spacer targeting mechanism, compared to the single spacer required by CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene targeting. Discovery TIGR-Tas systems were reported in February 2025 by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research. TIGR-Tas systems were discovered through computational mining approaches that began with structural analysis of the RNA-binding domain of SpCas9. Through iterative structural and sequence homology-based searches, protein were discovered that contain Nop domains—hallmarks of eukaryotic box C/D snoRNA ribonucleoproteins (RNPs)—associated with distinctive tandem interspaced guide RNA arrays. The discovery process employed advanced computational methods, including protein large language models, to cluster related proteins based o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prokaryote
A prokaryote (; less commonly spelled procaryote) is a unicellular organism, single-celled organism whose cell (biology), cell lacks a cell nucleus, nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. The word ''prokaryote'' comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'before', and (), meaning 'nut' or 'kernel'. In the earlier two-empire system arising from the work of Édouard Chatton, prokaryotes were classified within the empire Prokaryota. However, in the three-domain system, based upon molecular phylogenetics, prokaryotes are divided into two domain (biology), domains: Bacteria and Archaea. A third domain, Eukaryote, Eukaryota, consists of organisms with nuclei. Prokaryotes evolution, evolved before eukaryotes, and lack nuclei, mitochondria, and most of the other distinct organelles that characterize the eukaryotic cell. Some unicellular prokaryotes, such as cyanobacteria, form colony (biology), colonies held together by biofilms, and large colonies can create multilayered microbial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CRISPR Gene Editing
CRISPR gene editing (; pronounced like "crisper"; an abbreviation for "clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats") is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense system. By delivering the Cas9 nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell, the cell's genome can be cut at a desired location, allowing existing genes to be removed or new ones added ''in vivo''. The technique is considered highly significant in biotechnology and medicine as it enables editing genomes ''in vivo'' and is precise, cost-effective, and efficient. It can be used in the creation of new medicines, agriculture, agricultural products, and genetically modified organisms, or as a means of controlling pathogens and pest control, pests. It also offers potential in the treatment of inherited genetic diseases as well as diseases arisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broad Institute
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The institute is independently governed and supported as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization under the name Broad Institute Inc., and it partners with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and the five Harvard teaching hospitals. History The Broad Institute evolved from a decade of research collaborations among MIT and Harvard scientists. One cornerstone was the Center for Genome Research of Whitehead Institute at MIT. Founded in 1982, the Whitehead became a major center for genomics and the Human Genome Project. As early as 1995, scientists at the Whitehead started pilot projects in genomic medicine, forming an unofficial collaborative network among young scientists interested in genomic approaches to cancer and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McGovern Institute For Brain Research
The McGovern Institute for Brain Research is a research institute within MIT. Its mission is to understand how the brain works and to discover new ways to prevent or treat brain disorders. The institute was founded in 2000 by Patrick McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern with a gift to MIT that is expected to total $350M over 20 years. Role The McGovern Institute conducts research into all aspects of brain function, including perception, cognition and action. It also conducts clinical and translational research on a wide range of brain disorders. The institute's core facilities include the Martinos Imaging Center, which provides neuroimaging technologies for human and animal research, including MRI, EEG and MEG. The McGovern Institute occupies approximately 85,000 sq ft (net) within the MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex. This building, which was completed in 2005, also houses the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Science ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flavonifractor Plautii
''Flavonifractor plautii'' is a bacterium of the monotypic genus '' Flavonifractor'' in the family ''Oscillospiraceae''. History This species was originally placed in the genus ''Fusobacterium'' by S. Seguin in 1928, and was later recategorized as ''Fusocillus'' in 1938 by A.R. Prevot. This classification remained until 1962, when M. Sebald renamed the species ''Zuberella plauti''. In 1928, Skerman VBD and colleagues referred to this species as ''Fusobacterium plauti'' in the “Approved Lists of Bacterial Names”. In 1982, Hofstad and Aasjord officially assigned the name ''Eubacterium plautii'' to this species. In 1991, Winter et al. highlighted the bacterium’s ability to cleave flavonoids and introduced its basionym as ''Clostridium orbiscindens''. Finally, in 2010, Carlier et al. proposed the unification of ''Clostridium orbiscindens'' and ''Eubacterium plautii'' under the new name ''Flavonifractor plautii''. The cells are described as straight or slightly curved rods, 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermoproteota
The Thermoproteota are prokaryotes that have been classified as a phylum (biology), phylum of the domain Archaea. Initially, the Thermoproteota were thought to be sulfur-dependent extremophiles but recent studies have identified characteristic Thermoproteota environmental rRNA indicating the organisms may be the most abundant archaea in the marine environment. Originally, they were separated from the other archaea based on rRNA sequences; other physiological features, such as lack of histones, have supported this division, although some crenarchaea were found to have histones. Until 2005 all cultured Thermoproteota had been thermophilic or hyperthermophilic organisms, some of which have the ability to grow at up to 113 °C. These organisms stain Gram negative and are morphologically diverse, having rod, cocci, Filamentation, filamentous and oddly-shaped cells. Recent evidence shows that some members of the Thermoproteota are methanogens. Thermoproteota were initially classif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RuvABC
RuvABC is a complex of three proteins that mediate branch migration and resolve the Holliday junction created during homologous recombination in bacteria. As such, RuvABC is critical to bacterial DNA repair. RuvA and RuvB bind to the four strand DNA structure formed in the Holliday junction intermediate, and migrate the strands through each other, using a putative spooling mechanism. The RuvAB complex can carry out DNA helicase activity, which helps unwind the duplex DNA. The binding of the RuvC protein to the RuvAB complex is thought to cleave the DNA strands, thereby resolving the Holliday junction. Protein complex The RuvABC is a complex of three proteins that resolve the Holliday junction formed during bacterial homologous recombination. In ''Escherichia coli'', DNA replication forks stall at least once per cell cycle, so that DNA replication must be restarted if the cell is to survive. Replication restart is a multi-step process in ''E. coli'' that requires the sequential ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CRISPR
CRISPR (; acronym of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. Each sequence within an individual prokaryotic CRISPR is derived from a DNA fragment of a bacteriophage that had previously infected the prokaryote or one of its ancestors. These sequences are used to detect and destroy DNA from similar bacteriophages during subsequent infections. Hence these sequences play a key role in the antiviral (i.e. anti- phage) defense system of prokaryotes and provide a form of heritable, acquired immunity. CRISPR is found in approximately 50% of sequenced bacterial genomes and nearly 90% of sequenced archaea. Cas9 (or "CRISPR-associated protein 9") is an enzyme that uses CRISPR sequences as a guide to recognize and open up specific strands of DNA that are complementary to the CRISPR sequence. Cas9 enzymes together with CRISPR sequences form the basis of a technology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Expression
Gene expression is the process (including its Regulation of gene expression, regulation) by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, and ultimately affect a phenotype. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein-coding genes such as Transfer RNA, transfer RNA (tRNA) and Small nuclear RNA, small nuclear RNA (snRNA), the product is a functional List of RNAs, non-coding RNA. The process of gene expression is used by all known life—eukaryotes (including multicellular organisms), prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), and viruses—to generate the macromolecule, macromolecular machinery for life. In genetics, gene expression is the most fundamental level at which the genotype gives rise to the phenotype, ''i.e.'' observable trait. The genetic information stored in DNA represents the genotype, whereas the phenotype results from the "interpretation" of that informati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genome Editing
Genome editing, or genome engineering, or gene editing, is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism. Unlike early genetic engineering techniques that randomly insert genetic material into a host genome, genome editing targets the insertions to site-specific locations. The basic mechanism involved in genetic manipulations through programmable nucleases is the recognition of target genomic loci and binding of effector DNA-binding domain (DBD), double-strand breaks (DSBs) in target DNA by the restriction endonucleases (FokI and CRISPR associated protein, Cas), and the repair of DSBs through homology-directed recombination (HDR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). History Genome editing was pioneered in the 1990s, before the advent of the common current nuclease-based gene-editing platforms, but its use was limited by low efficiencies of editing. Genome editing with engineered nucleases, i.e. all three m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
