Heidi Ledford in Nature:
Scientists have exploited a peculiar CRISPR enzyme so that it fights cancer by shredding the DNA in cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct. The enzyme can be programmed to recognize a specific messenger RNA, such as one made by a cancer cell. Once the enzyme finds its partner, it slashes the cell’s genome to pieces. The DNA-shredding approach, reported in two papers in Nature1,2, could provide a way for researchers to kill cancer cells that express ‘undruggable’ mutant proteins that have been difficult to target using conventional medicines.
“It’s a molecular kill switch that recognizes a particular RNA,” says Yang Liu, a molecular biologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, and an author of one of the papers. “This is basically a programmable chemotherapy.”
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