Genetic Engineering Publications - GEG Tech top picks

Here, the scientists report that four to six bases at the 3′ end of the short CRISPR RNA (crRNA) used to program Cpf1 nucleases are insensitive to single base mismatches, but that many of the other bases in this region of the crRNA are highly sensitive to single or double substitutions. Using GUIDE-seq and targeted deep sequencing analyses performed with both Cpf1 nucleases, they were unable to detect off-target cleavage for more than half of 20 different crRNAs. Our results suggest that AsCpf1 and LbCpf1 are highly specific in human cells.