Cornell researchers have taken an important step toward harnessing CRISPR gene editing in “targeted, safe and potent” cancer treatment, according to Ailong Ke, professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The enzyme CRISPR-Cas3, one of many different CRISPR systems found naturally in the immune systems of bacteria, could ultimately be used to find unique genetic features in cancer cells and shred them, killing the cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact, Ke said. In a collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan, Ke has uncovered the fundamental mechanisms that drive the CRISPR-Cas3 system and the control of its editing activity inside human cells.

“Exploiting Activation and Inactivation Mechanisms in Type I-C CRISPR-Cas3 for Genome-editing Applications” published in Molecular Cell on Jan. 18. The study was funded by a New Frontier Grant from Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences and by support from the National Institutes of Health.

“Rather than make a double strand break (in the DNA) and stop there,” as the thoroughly-studied CRISPR-Cas9 system does, Ke said, “CRISPR Cas3 will shred DNA into pieces. When introduced into human cells, it will cause long-range deletions in the human genome.”

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.