"The best-known version is mediated by the Cas9 enzyme; this can fix errors or mutations within genes by cutting strands of DNA. But virologists like Zhao are more interested in Cas9's less famous cousin, the Cas13 enzyme, which can do the same to RNA. In human cells, RNA molecules carry instructions from DNA to make proteins, but the genetic code of influenza viruses is composed entirely of RNA strands-a vulnerability that Cas13 can exploit."
""Cas13 can target these RNA viruses and inactivate them," Zhao explained. Human cells do not naturally make either Cas9 or Cas13; both of these enzymes are found in the immune systems of bacteria and microscopic organisms called archaea., where Cas13 enables them to disable invading viruses called phages. Zhao and a wider team of scientists are devising an innovative system to confer the same benefits to humans."
CRISPR, widely used to edit DNA for rare-disease therapies, can be repurposed to attack influenza by leveraging Cas13's RNA-targeting activity. Cas13 cleaves RNA strands, enabling inactivation of RNA viruses such as influenza, including seasonal strains and emerging animal-origin variants. Cas13 originates in bacterial and archaeal immune systems, where it disables invading phages; human cells do not produce Cas13 naturally. Delivery approaches under consideration include lipid nanoparticle formulations suitable for nasal sprays or injections, building on laboratory work that pioneered Cas13 antivirals against COVID-19, with the goal of a next-generation influenza treatment.
Read at WIRED
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