Dr Raymond Staals, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Fineran Lab, is a part of an international research team that has just published in the high-profile journal Science.
In the paper, the authors show how CRISPR-Cas, a surveillance complex in the bacterial immune system, is able to target specific sites on RNA molecules to destroy invading viruses and other foreign genetic elements. The finding could lead to the development of tailor-made RNA-editing tools.
“It is quite exciting to think that a tool that has evolved through the eternal invisible war fought between bacteria and viruses could one day be adapted to effectively and safely treat deadly human diseases,” Dr Staals says.
Read the media release on the University of Otago website
Read the paper: Structures of the CRISPR-Cmr complex reveal mode of RNA target positioning
