with a digital tour of the fish lab

The Radboud PUC of Science has in cooperation with Radboudumc organised an on-line lecture about CRISPR/Cas9. This lecture was given on 10 December 2020, the day that the Nobel prizes were presented. Researchers of the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) department of the Radboudumc explain the CRISPR/Cas9 technique in the light of their research into Usher Syndrome. 

 Poof!
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was presented this year to the discoverers of the CRISPR/Cas9 technique, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna. The prize for the technique had been pending for some years already, because Crispr/Cas has been acknowledged as revolutionary examination technique for a long time already. And suddenly – poof! – we can change everything genetically’, is how Doudna describes the importance of this technique. 

Previously, scientists always had to make genetic changes in organisms ‘on the off-chance’, for example by shooting at cells with radiation. However, Crispr/Cas works with an enzyme that searches the DNA for exactly the spot that scientists have indicated beforehand. This makes it possible to very precisely make changes in genetic material. 

 

Development of genetic treatment
Researchers Erwin van Wijk and Erik de Vrieze of the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) department of the Radboudumc explain the CRISPR/Cas9 technique in the light of their research into Usher Syndrome. 

Since the discovery of CRISPR/Cas9, they have applied this technology many times to make zebrafish models for Usher Syndrome, a rare hereditary disorder which causes people to be born hard of hearing and makes them slowly loose their eyesight as well. These genetically modified zebrafishes and the easy way in which they can be produced thanks to the discovery of Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, are the basis of the development of new genetic treatments for Usher Syndrome. 

Tour of the zebrafish lab
Following the lecture, both researchers will give a virtual tour of the zebrafish facility of the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Informatics, and show how the CRISPR/Cas9 technique is applied in practice. 

 The subtitling has been automatically generated and is therefore not always correct. 

Do you want to read more?
Research into Usher Syndrome on the Usher Syndrome Knowledge Portal
The research projects for which the Usher Syndrome Foundation collects donations and funds
In de Volkskrant, a Dutch daily paper: Nobelprijs scheikunde voor techniek waarmee we – poef! – opeens alles genetisch kunnen veranderen [Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the technique with which we – poof! – can suddenly genetically change everything].