• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, October 3, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

UBC scientists capture images of gene-editing enzymes in action

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 8, 2019
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Findings hold promise for future treatment of human diseases caused by DNA mutations

For the first time, scientists have captured high-resolution, three-dimensional images of an enzyme in the process of precisely cutting DNA strands.

The images–captured using a technique called cryogenic electron microscopy, or cryo-EM–reveal new information about how a gene-editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9 works, which may help researchers develop versions of it that operate more efficiently and precisely to alter targeted genes.

The findings–published today in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology–hold promise for future treatment and prevention of a range of human diseases caused by DNA mutations, from cancer to cystic fibrosis and Huntington disease.

“It is exciting to be able to see at such a high level of detail how Cas9 actually works to cut and edit DNA strands,” said UBC researcher Sriram Subramaniam, who led the cryo-EM studies. “These images provide us with invaluable information to improve the efficiency of the gene-editing process so that we can hopefully correct disease-causing DNA mutations more quickly and precisely in the future.”

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene-editing tool in which the enzyme Cas9 acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA. Once the enzyme makes cuts in DNA at specific sites, insertions and edits can be made, therefore changing the DNA sequence.

To better understand the sequence of events involved in the process, Subramaniam and colleagues used cryo-EM technology to image the Cas9 enzyme at work. The images provide unprecedented glimpses of the stepwise molecular motions that occur in the course of DNA cutting by Cas9, including a snapshot of the cut DNA still attached to the enzyme immediately before release.

“One of the main hurdles preventing the development of better gene-editing tools using Cas9 is that we didn’t have any images of it actually cutting DNA,” said the study’s co-senior author, University of Illinois researcher Miljan Simonovic. “But now we have a much clearer picture, and we even see how the major domains of the enzyme move during reaction and this may be an important target for modification.”

The Subramaniam laboratory was the first to achieve atomic resolution imaging of proteins and protein-bound drug molecules using cryo-EM. In the last few years, they have pioneered the use of cryo-EM to visualize a variety of proteins including metabolic enzymes, brain receptors and DNA-protein complexes.

The study was supported by the funds from the US National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health grants, the UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, and by a Canada Excellence Research Chair position awarded to Subramaniam.

As the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Precision Cancer Drug Design, Subramaniam directs a laboratory aimed at bringing about transformative discoveries in cancer, neuroscience and infectious disease. Xing Zhu, the study’s first author, as well as co-author Sagar Chittori are members of the Subramaniam laboratory at UBC.

###

Media Contact
Thandi Fletcher
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

https://wp.me/p3AnxO-165U
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41594-019-0258-2

Tags: Gene TherapyGenesGeneticsMedicine/HealthMicrobiologyMolecular Biology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Optimal Blastocyst Count for PGT-A in RPL Patients

October 3, 2025

Narrative Nursing Boosts Diabetes Management in Seniors

October 3, 2025

From Parkinson’s to Rare Diseases: Scientists Discover a Key Cellular Health Switch

October 3, 2025

SMFM Releases Updated Guidelines for Diagnosing and Managing Heart Failure in Pregnancy and Postpartum

October 3, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    93 shares
    Share 37 Tweet 23
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    88 shares
    Share 35 Tweet 22
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    75 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • New Insights Suggest ALS May Be an Autoimmune Disease

    67 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17

About

BIOENGINEER.ORG

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Encapsulated Pseudomonas Controls Pistachio Gummosis Effectively

Illuminating the Future: Transforming Streetlamps into Electric Vehicle Chargers

Transforming Palm Waste into High-Performance CO₂ Absorbers: Malaysian Scientists Innovate with Agricultural Byproducts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm' to start subscribing.

Join 62 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.