Overview
Synthetic Nucleic Acid & Gene Editing Experiments
Synthetic Nucleic Acid (s/NA) are nucleic acid molecules that are chemically or by other means synthesized or amplified, including those that are chemically or otherwise modified but can base pair with naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules. These molecules do not existing in a living organism in nature. However, these ”synthesized” or “unnatural” nucleic acids can be introduced into a living organism. In general, synthetic nucleic acid experiments are subject to the purview of the IBC.
One common example of synthetic nucleic acid experiments is RNA interference which uses short 22bp synthesized RNA fragments called “siRNA”. These fragments allow genes to be silenced or “turned off” temporarily. This graphic illustrates how this works.
Another example of synthetic nucleic acid experiments is CRISPR gene-editing. This includes the use of an enzyme from bacteria that utilizes a short synthetic piece of RNA as a guide to target a specific sequence in the host DNA. Once the location is found the enzyme binds the DNA and cuts it. After cutting, the natural DNA repair mechanism introduces a mutation that effective turns off the gene or another piece of DNA can be inserted at the site of the cut.