Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a unique platform for analyzing and predicting important molecular events related to CRISPR-based genome editing systems. The platform is called CRISPRIMMUNITY, and it was reported in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
CRISPR is a molecular tool that can cut and insert DNA areas in cells. This opens up great opportunities for creating new types of organisms, treating hereditary diseases, and combating infections. However, CRISPR does not work the same for all types of cells and can cause undesirable mutations. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new approaches and regulators to improve the effectiveness and safety of CRISPR.
The CRISPRIMMUNITY Interactive web server integrates various databases and algorithms for analyzing and predicting CRISPR-CAS and anti-CRISPR systems. CRISPR-CAS systems are protein and RNA complexes that provide genome editing. Anti-CRISPR is protein that can block or regulate the CRISPR-CAS action. The source code is available on GitHub.
CRISPRIMMUNITY allows you to determine the well-known and new anti-CRISPR proteins, class II CRISPR-CAS class systems, types of CRISPR massifs, and other parameters that affect the work of CRISPR. The platform also provides the evolutionary perspective of the joint evolution of CRISPR-CAS and Anti-CRISPR. With a high accuracy of predicting anti-CRISPR proteins at 0.997, CRISPRIMMUNITY was compared with 99 experimentally confirmed ACRS and 676 non-A-ACRS.
CRISPRIMMUNITY is user-friendly and available for users of all levels. It offers various options for visualization and settings of results, as well as use guidelines. The NCBI database gives access to annotated data on bacteria and microorganisms of the human intestine containing information about key molecular events associated with CRISPR. For computing biologists, the autonomous version of CRISPRIMMUNITY on GitHub is also available for mass data analysis.
In conclusion, the development of CRISPRIMMUNITY is a significant breakthrough. It will improve the accuracy and safety of CRISPR-based genome editing systems while providing insights into the evolution of CRISPR-CAS and Anti-CRISPR.