Seminarios IHSM La Mayora - Lluis Montoliu (CNB-CSIC)
The CRISPR system, whose origin is in Alicante, thanks to the pioneer work of Francis Mojica, has become a routine genetics tool in all molecular biology labs, but also its impact has become more obvious in biotechnological and biomedical applications. CRISPR tools are now used to modify plants and animal genomes thereby generating novel and better adapted individuals or with an increased production. At the clinic there are now more than 135 clinical trials ongoing using CRISPR to explore gene therapies for a great variety of congenital diseases. From the tools side there have been an explosion of CRISPR variants progressively safer and with higher specificity. This seminar will review the current status of genome editing tools (including those suggested after CRISPR) and their most important applications, highlighting their success, challenges and limitations.
