The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)and CRISPR-associated protein 9 complex has become one of the biggest technological advances in science. This genome editing technology has taken multiple advances toward closer research into studies of embryonic development to cancer. CRISPRainbow, a modification to CRISPR where the Cas9 is mutated, allows researchers to label up to seven different genomic locations in live cells.
CRISPR has been used for editing genomes, however, research specialist Hanhui Ma and his team has used it to label DNA and track the movement of DNA in live cells. With this new research, we can find the precise genomic location in order to understand the movement of chromosomes. This is important because the genes that create our biological make-up and control our health do so by their location in the 3-D space.
Currently, with CRISPR, we can only label three genomic locations at a time in each cell. It has extremely challenged scientists to label more sites because it would require cells to be mixed in formaldehyde, which would kill them, making it impossible to observe the chromosome’s structure when stimulated by a response.
The new Cas9 mutation causes the nuclease to deactivate, so it only binds to DNA and doesn’t cut the genome. Then, the CRISPRainbow is docked into location by the guide RNA which can be programmed technologically. Research specialist, Hanhui Ma was able to figure out a way to implement computational coloring. Each guide RNA would include one of the three primary fluorescent proteins: red, green or blue which then can be observed in real time under a microscope. Pretty cool, right? Well, guess what? It doesn’t stop here. Ma decided to go even further in his research and attach a second fluorescent protein to the guide RNA. Ma could then combine the three primary colors to generate three additional labels: cyan, magenta, and yellow. From the primary colors, he was able to achieve white as the seventh color. 
CRISPRainbow can track the challenging and dynamic movement of genomes that may lead to biological consequences. Research Scientist, Hanhui Ma, states “With this technology, we can visualize different chromosome loci at different points in time.” We can observe the structural changes in chromosomes overtime with help us understand their relation to health and disease. So why do you think they called is CRISPRainbow? What kind of diseases can we track with this new technology? What more can CRISPRainbow do in the near future?
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