Ahmadi Fatemeh, Quach Angela B V, Shih Steve C C
Biomicrofluidics. 2020 Nov 24;14(6):061301. doi: 10.1063/5.0029846. eCollection 2020 Nov.
Acclaimed as one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs, the technology of CRISPR has brought significant improvement in the biotechnological spectrum-from editing genetic defects in diseases for gene therapy to modifying organisms for the production of biofuels. Since its inception, the CRISPR-Cas9 system has become easier and more versatile to use. Many variants have been found, giving the CRISPR toolkit a great range that includes the activation and repression of genes aside from the previously known knockout and knockin of genes. Here, in this Perspective, we describe efforts on automating the gene-editing workflow, with particular emphasis given on the use of microfluidic technology. We discuss how automation can address the limitations of gene-editing and how the marriage between microfluidics and gene-editing will expand the application space of CRISPR.
被誉为最大的科学突破之一，CRISPR技术在生物技术领域带来了重大进步——从为基因治疗编辑疾病中的基因缺陷到改造生物体以生产生物燃料。自诞生以来，CRISPR-Cas9系统使用起来变得更加简便且用途更广。人们发现了许多变体，这使得CRISPR工具集种类繁多，除了之前已知的基因敲除和敲入外，还包括基因的激活和抑制。在这篇观点文章中，我们描述了基因编辑工作流程自动化方面的努力，特别强调了微流控技术的应用。我们讨论了自动化如何解决基因编辑的局限性，以及微流控技术与基因编辑的结合将如何拓展CRISPR的应用空间。
