VATIS UPDATE Article

A research done by Dr. Huimin Zhao and graduate student Behnam Enghiad at the University of Illinois, the United States, is pioneering a new method of genetic engineering for basic and applied biological research and medicine. Their work has the potential to open new doors in genomic research by improving the precision and adherence of sliced DNA. “Using our technology, we can create highly active artificial restriction enzymes with virtually any sequence specificity and defined sticky ends of varying length,” said Zhao.

Restriction enzymes are an important tool in genomic research: by cutting DNA at a specific site, they create a space wherein foreign DNA can be introduced for gene-editing purposes. This process is not only achieved by naturally-occurring restriction enzymes; other artificial restriction enzymes, or AREs, have risen to prominence in recent years. CRISPR-Cas9, a bacterial immune system used for “cut-and-paste” gene editing, and TALENs, modified restriction enzymes, are two popular examples of such techniques.

Though useful in genetic engineering, no AREs generate defined “sticky ends” – an uneven break in the DNA ladder-structure that leaves complementary overhangs, improving adhesion when introducing new DNA. “If you can cleave two different DNA samples with the same restriction enzyme, the sticky ends that are generated are complementary. They will hybridize with each other, and if you use a ligase, you can stick them together,” explained Enghiad.