
CRISPR between the genes: how to experiment with enhancers and epigenomics - akarve
https://genomics.quiltdata.com/2016/04/18/crisper-between-the-genes-enhancers/
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akarve
Hi. In this post we discuss CRISPR as a kind of "GPS for the genome" that
allows scientists to explore protein, RNA, and DNA interactions in intergenic
regions. This is a cutting edge application of CRISPR. We ran through all of
the human genome to find more than 2 million guide RNAs "between the genes"
and made the data publicly available. Send us your questions and comments. If
you're looking for a background in running CRISPR experiments, check out our
first post
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10973394](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10973394)

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theophrastus
If you don't want to turn-off a finicky set of science geeks please flip the
stock image at the top of your web-page. It screams that you don't know the
normal handedness of DNA [1], (and calls to suspicion what other basic
structural genetic facts you-all might be unaware of)

[1] [http://users.fred.net/tds/leftdna/](http://users.fred.net/tds/leftdna/)

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akarve
thanks for catching that. we swapped out the stock image for a shot of the
author's lab. perhaps not as pretty, but certainly not as misleading :)

this is not the first time i have been bitten by stock photography. i'm
concluding that it's worth the effort to shoot originals whenever possible.

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theophrastus
Graphically well done. I don't know about "misleading", but that certainly
appears more authentic. As to any "shoot originals" of DNA strands we have to
satisfy ourselves with crystallographic or NMR models, (nuclei and electrons
being somewhat shy beasts as far as photography is concerned). One only has to
depict it helixing to the right as it recedes from the viewer to be free of
annoying quibbles (from me [wink])

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akarve
yeah, i'm not planning to "shoot originals" of DNA any time soon. just article
headers at the macro-molecular scale :)

after your comment i carefully examined every detail of the picture (not just
the handedness) and, as a chemist, was annoyed by enough details (especially
the hydrogen bonds) to nix the whole thing.

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hiall
To do some very basic research in math, the absolute minimum one should know
is the basics of number theory, group theory and real analysis. By analogy,
what's the absolute minimum knowledge for someone who wants to enter the
field(as far as CRISPR goes) to at least be able to read papers and maybe do
some labwork? Thanks.

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DanWebster13
I'd strongly recommend starting with the non-profit Addgene's guide to CRISPR
([https://www.addgene.org/crispr/guide/](https://www.addgene.org/crispr/guide/)).
A great place to start and accompanying blog posts keep up to date. Also a
great place to get the DNA building blocks, libraries, etc.

