Advancing Therapeutics: CRISPR-Cas9 and Emerging Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

The field of genome editing in health, agriculture, and biotechnology has seen a revolutionary surge in productivity brought about by the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. This post looks into the genesis and distinct features of the system, with particular emphasis on the indispensable tools of the trade: the Cas9 enzyme and the guide RNA. It notes the extraordinary precision with which the system yields exact genome edits, conditions that CRISPR creates for the development of novel medical therapies, and the momentous rise of church-state issues in bioengineering that promise to impact the agricultural sector. The second focus area is how well the CRISPR-Cas9 system can be delivered using nanoparticles, including lipid-based and polymeric nanoparticles, and viral vectors. These are very effective delivery methods, but they aren't perfect and have a scope of improvements that lie ahead. Should the CRISPR-Cas9 system find success in research domains, it's likely that current delivery methods, including nanoparticles, will be a part of that success. There's at least one expert opinion that foresees the current research scenario in the field as already placing our understanding of CRISPR-Cas9 on the cutting edge of genome editing breakthroughs.