Science in Seconds | Researchers Discover New Bacterial Immune Systems
Scientists at Gladstone Institutes are developing new technologies for genome editing, which can correct mutations that cause disease. To build these technologies, they use parts from bacteria, including bacterial immune systems called retrons.
Seth Shipman and his team recently identified seven new retrons from environmental bacteria by sampling soil and water in nature. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology.
In this video, the researchers explain how they co-opt the retrons’ ability to produce DNA inside cells and combine it with the CRISPR system to create better tools for genome editing, which can one day be used as therapeutics for a range of diseases.
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