Understanding CRISPR-Cas9
163,447
Published 2022-03-16
Now that VCAA have intimated that they expect students to have more than a superficial knowledge and understanding of CRISPR (for example they have to know about PAM sequences), many of the videos and websites I'd once have recommended are no longer sufficient because they leave out details in an effort to make the concepts easy to grasp. Others which do include details are unassailable to students because of the prerequisite knowledge and terminology they assume.
That's why I made this video. It goes deep (really deep, actually), but I hope that stepping through it slowly, and explaining terminology as we go will make it a valuable resource for students really wanting to understand.
It covers both the way that bacteria use CRISPR-Cas9 as an adaptive immune system, and the way it can be used for gene editing by molecular biologists. It also answers lots of the questions that people have when learning about CRISPR-Cas9, such as:
- is there a difference between gRNA and sgRNA? (and what is the difference between crRNA and gRNA?, or between cr:tracrRNA and gRNA?)
- how does Cas9 differentiate between 'self' and 'non-self'
- why doesn't Cas9 cut the spacer in the bacterial CRISPR array?
- why don't Cas1-Cas2 make spacers out of the bacterial DNA?
- how is Cas9 used to 'knock out' a gene.
- how is Cas9 used to insert a gene at a specific location using the cells DNA-repair machinery.
etc.
All Comments (21)
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Man! You are one heck of a great teacher. If we could all shrink ourselves and see everything in our cells and shrink even smaller to see the mechanisms DNA uses, you would be the perfect tour guide because you explain things that well.
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As you said, your video really fills the gap between those simple videos for the "common people" and those, who are made from experts for experts. Thank you!
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Sir, I was so lost in CRISPR and didn’t know where to start and where to go. This is hands down tue best video on the topic. You went sufficiently into depth while keeping everything clear and concise. I would really appreciate next a detailed video on Prime Editing similar to this one, and comparing the 2 strategies, and talking about the problems with CRISPR such as high indel ratio, etc. Keep up the good work!
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I am speechless. I think with a teacher like you, biology would have been on the top of my preferred classes. I wish you all the best.
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This video actually saved me! You are the only reason I'm making it through year 12 biology 🤣🤣
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Dr.Andrew, It is my first time to write a comment to express my gratitude for someone, really really thank you for this masterpiece !
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OMG this video, yes perfect, for my exam i needed to learn how this works and needed to learn a paper written by fellow classmates, i dont think they saw this video bc this explanation is a 1000x better more understandable! Thank you!
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You really gave the intuition to the whole CRISPR -Cas9 thing and cured the questions that were bugging me before , now its clear to a very good extent. Very grateful for this
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Thank you for that very understandable description of the CRISPR-Cas9 system. Your explanation and your graphics are super.
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Watched 6 vids on this topic and this video just set everything crystal clear...I was interested in knowing crispr...but now i feel like i can explain crispr...thank u🎉❤
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wow, what a great video. i've been looking for it for a long time and now there's finally one. without whiteboards, bad drawings, superficial subject matter and confusing slides. i'm studying biology and never understood the mechanism when my professor explained it. i then neglected it while studying. now i failed an exam repeatedly and have to go through the topic again. and you explained it so incredibly well, with all the details one needs to know, but not toooo detailed. thank you so much for that. i feel well prepared and hope there will be a question about CRISPR/Cas9 :)
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Andrew- outstanding presentation. I had some molecular biology training, but rarely if ever received instruction in the methodical and organized manner you use here. Thanks very much for taking the time to do this.
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Outstanding explanation. Going to start working in the lab next week, exploring the possibilities of CRISPR Cas 9 gene editing in patients with heart disease. Thank you for the refresh !
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This is really an amazing video! Thank you so much for taking your time carefully preparing and making this video!!
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I am glad and thankful that this video exists.
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New videos are always exciting to see!
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What an amazing biologist, your enthusiasm is very contagious
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I cannot stress enough how well you have explained this subject! Thank you very much!! Hats off to you, sir
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This is the most splendid video on CRISPRCas9 system I have ever encountered. You have solved every question I have got on this topic! Thank you so much!
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The presentation is a perfect marriage between hitting all the key points, conciseness, proper elaboration, giving all the necessary details. Excellent job!
