Fanzor: a compact programmable RNA-guided endonuclease from eukaryotes

Muhammad Jawad Akbar Awan; Muhammad Raza Ali Awan; Imran Amin; Shahid Mansoor

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.08.003

Fanzor: a compact programmable RNA-guided endonuclease from eukaryotes

Trends Biotechnol. 2023 Nov;41(11):1332-1334. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.08.003. Epub 2023 Sep 4.

Authors

Muhammad Jawad Akbar Awan¹, Muhammad Raza Ali Awan², Imran Amin¹, Shahid Mansoor³

Affiliations

¹ Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Constituent College of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
² Industrial Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Constituent College of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
³ Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Constituent College of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan; International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan. Electronic address: shahidmansoor7@gmail.com.

PMID: 37673694
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.08.003

Abstract

The IS200/605 transposons in prokaryotes are known to harbor programmable endonucleases. Despite carrying their own transposable elements, no such effector has been characterized in eukaryotes. Saito et al. recently reported compact and programmable RNA-guided eukaryotic endonucleases, called Fanzors, that can induce targeted genetic modifications, thus expanding the genome-editing toolbox.

Keywords: IS200/605 transposable elements; IscB; OMEGA loci; TnpB; eukaryotic endonuclease; genome editing; synthetic biology.