New gene-editing tool found in bacterium could carry out extensive genome remodelling

Bacteria are known to use ‘jumping genes’ to reorder their genome and fast-forward evolution. Now, scientists have discovered a mobile genetic element from this microbial world that might be able to rearrange large sections of our own DNA.¹

This ‘takes us beyond the DNA and RNA cutting abilities of Crispr and RNA interference and towards a broader suite of capabilities’ for genome design, Patrick Hsu, geneticist at the University of California, Berkeley, said at a media briefing.

His group has found an enzyme that uses an RNA bridge in two parts: one binds to a sequence of donor DNA and another to the target DNA to insert the donor sequences. The discovery stemmed from investigations of a transposable element that can cut and paste itself into microbial genomes. The non-coding RNAs flanking the sequence controls an enzyme called a DNA recombinase.