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Introducing the world’s first gene-edited lizard, an albino
- Four brown anole lizards (a type of tropical lizard) have been genetically modified using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool. This is the world’s first successful attempt at producing a genetically modified reptile.
- The researchers from University of Georgia, USA had used CRISPR-Cas9 to fertilize the immature eggs of anole lizards and produce four pink albino offspring.
- Scientists are of the opinion that the successful research would help the study of human medicine, particularly the eye.
- Genome/Gene editing is the deliberate alteration of a selected DNA sequence in a living cell. It involves editing an organism’s DNA by altering, removing or adding nucleotides to the genome.
- CRISPR-Cas9 (‘Clustered Regularly Inter-Spaced Palindromic Repeats’) is a tool used for gene editing. The technique involves a DNA cutting enzyme and a small tag which tells the enzyme where to cut. Cas9 stands for CRISPR-associated protein 9, and is the nuclease part that cuts the DNA.
