CRISPR CAS

This is perhaps the biggest development in the field, in modern times. This is the technology of Genome Editing and the finest being Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats or CRISPR.

CRISPR-Cas9 was adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system that bacteria use as an immune defense. When infected with viruses, bacteria use this mechanism to ‘remember’ them and disable any future attack from the virus.

Researchers adapted this immune defense system to edit DNA. They use the cell's DNA repair machinery to add or delete pieces of genetic material, or to make changes to the DNA by replacing an existing segment with a customized DNA sequence.

Applications of this include disease modeling and diagnosis, gene therapy, genome-scale screening, and even designer babies!

> genome-scale-screening - Genome-scale screens identify factors regulating tumor cell responses to natural killer cells

By utilizing genomic research, scientists were able to uncover the previously unknown genes responsible for its formation. This breakthrough opens doors to the discovery of a multitude of new natural compounds with medical applications.

Microorganisms in their natural habitat often face varying environmental conditions and have evolved to produce a diverse range of

Grey - Carbon

Blue - Nitrogen

Red - Oxygen

White - Hydrogen

Benzoxazolinate (image) is a rare natural compound that confers extraordinary bioactivities on natural products.