Gene Editing Bacteria to Cure Infections. Andrew Skavicus

Transcription

1 Gene Editing Bacteria to Cure Infections Andrew Skavicus

2 Staphylococcus aureus Some diseases that are caused by Staphylococcus Bacteremia or sepsis when bacteria spread to the bloodstream. Pneumonia Endocarditis (infection of the heart valves) Osteomyelitis (bone infection), which can be caused by staph bacteria traveling in the bloodstream or by direct contact

3 CRISPR/Cas9 The CRISPR/Cas9 system was developed from a naturally occurring gene editing system that scientists discovered in bacteria In labs, scientists use a method very similar to the bacteria, using RNA to target segments of DNA Once the DNA is cut, scientists use the calls ability to repair in order to insert, remove or alter the DNA

4 Gene Editing in the Bacteria Stretches of DNA called pathogenicity islands can jump between bacteria strains, introducing new toxin-producing genes that usually make a strain more harmful.

5 Researchers take these parcels and replace the toxin-producing genes with sequences of the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9

6 Experiment There were two separate experiments run to determine how well the treatment worked. In both experimetns scientists replaced the pathogenicity islands with antibacterial cargos that produce and antibacterial drone (ABDs), which target infecting bacteria and kill it by expressing their cargo.

7 Experiment The first set of tests (a,b) was to determine how well the ABDs could block an infection. The second (c,d) was to determine how well they could treat an infection already in place.

8 Results of the Experiment The mice were all infected with the Staphylococcus bacteria and then treated with ABDs. Mice that were infected with the Staph bacteria then treated with a dose of ABD2003 at a ratio of 40/1

9 Issues and Future Development In this test there were some strains of the bacteria that did not react to either of the treatments that were given to the mice. Treatments in the future may include several different types of drones instead of just one.

10 Discussion The tests show that the treatment works with mice but there will need to be many more tests and there are still some problems that need to be worked out before there are any clinical trials of this treatment. Future progress of this treatment would most likely include not just one treatment, but a combination of treatments. Overall the treatment has shown this is a viable solution to the infections but research is needed to understand how to better defeat these bacteria.

11 Sources Ram, Geeta, et al. Conversion of Staphylococcal Pathogenicity Islands to CRISPR-Carrying Antibacterial Agents That Cure Infections in Mice. Nature Biotechnology, 2018, doi: /nbt Healthcare-Associated Infections. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Jan. 2011, Hamers, Laurel. Smuggling a CRISPR Gene Editor into Staph Bacteria Can Kill the Pathogen. Science News, 4 Oct. 2018, Biolabs, New England. CRISPR/Cas9 & Targeted Genome Editing: New Era in Molecular Biology. New England Biolabs: Reagents for the Life Sciences Industry, and-targeted-genome-editing-a-new-era-in-molecular-biology.