A CRISPR Enzyme That Self-Destructs Cancer Cells

Scientists used a bacterial CRISPR enzyme to shred cancer-cell DNA at a mutation target, in early tests reported in Nature.

Scientists have shown that a bacterial CRISPR enzyme can kill cancer cells by shredding their DNA. Reported in two papers in Nature, the enzyme can be programmed to recognize a specific messenger RNA, such as one produced only by a cancer cell. Once it finds that target RNA, it cuts the cell's genome into pieces, triggering the cell to self-destruct.

The distinctive feature is what the enzyme does after finding its target. Rather than making a single precise edit, it turns into an indiscriminate DNA shredder inside the cell that carries the flagged RNA. That behavior could let the approach target cancer cells expressing mutant proteins long considered 'undruggable' by conventional medicines, because it keys on the RNA signature rather than needing a drug that binds the protein itself.

If it holds up, this widens the set of cancers that precision tools can reach. Undruggable mutations account for a large share of hard cases, and a method that identifies cancer cells by their unique RNA and then destroys them from within would add a new class of targeted treatment.

The honest limits are large. These are early tests, and the reporting is brief, with no detailed trial results and no human data. The gap between shredding cancer-cell DNA in the lab and a safe, controllable therapy in people is the whole distance that still needs to be covered.

Source: Nature