Genetic Engineering Without Unwanted Side Effects Helps Fight Parasites
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AzumaHazuki:
Genetic engineering without unwanted side effects helps fight parasites:
Around a third of the world's population carries Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that puts people with a weakened immune system at risk and can trigger malformations in the womb. The single-celled pathogen also leads to economic losses in agriculture, with toxoplasmosis increasing the risk of abortion among sheep, for example.
The parasite has a complex life cycle and infests virtually all warm-blooded creatures, including wild rodents and birds. It is introduced into livestock, and thus into humans, exclusively via cats. Only in this main host infectious stages form that are shed with the feces into the environment as encapsulated oocysts and from there enter the food chain.
"If we succeed in preventing the production of these oocysts, we can reduce the occurrence of toxoplasmosis among humans and animals," says Adrian Hehl, professor of parasitology and Vice Dean of Research and Academic Career Development at the University of Zurich's Vetsuisse Faculty. He and his research group have developed methods making an intervention of this sort possible.
[...] To make the sterile parasites, the researchers used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing scissors. While this enables precise modifications to the genetic material, depending on the protocol the method generally used can also have disadvantages. Errors and unintended genetic alterations can creep in. Now the research group around Hehl reports that in Toxoplasma, such unwanted side-effects can be avoided using a modified technique.
Journal Reference:
Rahel R. Winiger and Adrian B. Hehl. A streamlined CRISPR/Cas9 approach for fast genome editing in Toxoplasma gondii and Besnoitia besnoiti. Journal of Biological Methods, 2020 DOI: 10.14440/jbm.2020.343
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