@HassanAesthetic Profile on Prime Editing
1/ I wanted to include this as its science needs to be understood, even though, they are technically a company with indications or even public to value. I really love the application of the science.
2/ The Prime Editing comes with 3 parts and its more of a gene writer than a base editor. It has the CAS enzyme that cuts the DNA using a single strand nickase. The guide RNA is much larger, but plays 2 roles. The first half guides the CAS enzyme to the site of the edit.
3/ The second half of the RNA is used as the template for the Reverse Transcriptase (RT). The Reverse transcriptase is the part that copies the RNA into the DNA.
4/ A reverse transcriptase is from a Retrovirus like HIV. There are many, many of them. That is how Lentivirus does its insertion. It takes an RNA template and copies it into the DNA.
5/ The big difference is the Lentivirus is not guided while the CAS system guides the RT in the Prime Editing.
6/ This system is brilliant as it take the best part of CRISPR with guided editing and pairs it with the best part of the RT to copy a template into the DNA.
7/ I can see a few issues that might happen with this system. The first is the guide RNA might still go off target. The other is around how the insertion of the RT created DNA is inserted and ligated.
8/ I wonder if there is any room for off target insertion of the created DNA that is synthesized. I know I asked about how they limit the RT to using the template strand and got a great answer.
9/ They have a load sequence that prevents the RT from using some random RNA already in the cell.
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