Course info

The discovery of the CRISPR system, which provides adaptive antiviral immunity in prokaryotes, has made facile genome engineering a reality. This has resulted in an ongoing revolution in molecular biology and opened the door to a wide variety of applications in healthcare, agriculture and biotechnology. It also raises many ethical considerations. In this module, you will study the molecular biology of the CRISPR system in depth, touching on the history of discovery, biological mechanisms and the context of antiviral defence systems. Building on this, you will gain an appreciation of the potential applications of this technology in biotechnology and healthcare, and develop a proposal for a novel application, taking into account the practical and ethical considerations.