MOBE (genome editing technology)

2024: Product Announcement

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have unveiled an effective new MOBE genome editing tool that allows multiple point mutations to be corrected simultaneously. In the future, this may become the basis for the treatment and modeling of various polygenic diseases, including complex and rare ones.

Modern methods of modeling or correcting mutations in living cells already allow for point changes in the genome, however, editing several genes at once increases the risk of undesirable effects many times. Thus, CRISPR uses a double-stranded break mechanism to change DNA, however, such breaks are dangerous for cells, and multiple interventions can lead to random inserts and individual genes falling out, which disrupts cell activity.

𝓲

Unsplash

Instead of double-strand breaking, University of California researchers have proposed a new technique for editing individual DNA base pairs, thanks to which one base can be replaced with another. Thus, MOBE is not a "scissors" that allow entire genes to be cut and inserted, but a system of "letter-by-letter" genome alteration. Such a mechanism works more slowly, but more efficiently and to a lesser extent harms cells. According to the researchers, when using MOBE, the risks of unwanted changes are reduced from 30% to less than 5%. At the same time, the efficiency of genome conversion reaches 30%.

To replace individual base pairs, MOBEs use RNA structures called aptamers - these are small loops of RNA that bind to certain proteins. They allow simultaneous editing of the genome in several places at once with high efficiency and a lower frequency of "crosstalk." Aptamers were first used for such a purpose, and the research conducted proved the feasibility of a new genome editing system.^[1]

Notes