Template:CasX Device Template

CasX Device

Mechanism

This device is composed of the CasX protein, the reengineered tracrRNAs, the custom dsDNA ligands, and the reporter gates that form the complete biologically engineered diagnostic. When the tracrRNA binds mRNA in solution, the guideRNA of CasX is reconstituted and the enzyme initiates a cis-cleavage event to cut a sticky end into double-stranded DNA. This "activates" the previously noncatalytic target strand, turning it into a seesaw gate on which DNA computing reactions can be completed. In our testing fo the device, we feed the CasX-generated target DNA strands directly into a fluorescent reporter gate. However, in downstream work, this can be generally interfaced with DNA computing architectures such as winner-take-all neural nets.

Validation of the individual parts that form this device–the CasX protein, dsDNA target gates, and tracrRNA reconstitution–can be found on the individual parts pages as linked under Sequence (composite part map). Additionally, you can navigate more of our documentation on the Contributions page of our wiki.