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Aug 16, 2019

Tweaked CRISPR in neurons gives scientists new power to probe brain diseases

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health, neuroscience

A team of scientists at UC San Francisco and the National Institutes of Health have achieved another CRISPR first, one which may fundamentally alter the way scientists study brain diseases.

In a paper published August 15 in the journal Neuron, the researchers describe a technique that uses a special version of CRISPR developed at UCSF to systematically alter the activity of in human neurons generated from , the first successful merger of stem cell-derived cell types and CRISPR screening technologies.

Though mutations and other genetic variants are known to be associated with an increased risk for many , technological bottlenecks have thwarted the efforts of scientists working to understand exactly how these genes cause .

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