Increasing genome editing efficiency with optimized CRISPR-Cas enzymes

Genome editing by CRISPR systems has proven to be groundbreaking for basic biomedical research with significant implications for the treatment of human diseases. While the CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a (Cpf1) systems enable genome editing in a broad range of host species and cell types, both can exhibit poor editing efficiencies at specific target sites or in systems where delivery of CRISPR reagents is difficult. There are concerns about target specificity of the CRISPR-Cas9 system and, in many cases, typical remedies such as modified guide RNAs or mutant Cas9 proteins cause loss of genome editing efficiency. Many of these solutions for improving specificity were developed for delivery of the Cas9-gRNA complex via plasmid DNA vectors rather than delivery as ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). However, RNP delivery of CRISPR reagents is being increasingly used because of the risk of unwanted stimulation of the immune system by plasmid delivery. In this webinar, Dr Vakulskas discusses improved Cas9 and Cas12a (Cpf1) nucleases that have been optimized to significantly increase editing efficiency in living cells. He also presents data showing that IDT’s latest high-fidelity Cas9, Alt-R HiFi S.p. Cas9 V3, increases on-target editing efficiency and dramatically reduces off-target editing.