Simplified Gene Editing

In mid-May of this year, Synthego, a leading provider of genome engineering solutions, announced online CRISPR tools that make accessible over 100,000 genomes for free, fast, and easy target design. The software consists of a guide designer and a design validator and addresses gaps in the CRISPR design process. It also allows both sophisticated and novice researchers to reduce the time it takes to create optimal designs from hours to minutes.

A well designed CRISPR guide is a critical factor in achieving high efficiency gene edits with minimal off-target effects, the company explains. However, to properly design a guide using today’s tools requires a significant amount of effort and time. Current design tools are very limited in the number of genomes available, and require multiple time-consuming steps across a complex user experience. As a result, researchers often invest significant time into learning and setting up tools, understanding sophisticated methods for choosing CRISPR targets, and then manually curating CRISPR targets through multiple steps in a sub-optimal design process.

With Synthego’s new CRISPR design tool, researchers are able to select a desired gene of interest from a curated list of more than 100,000 genomes, compared to the less than 100 provided by previous tools. The tool then uses several builtin algorithms to instantly generate guide designs and recommendations for the most efficient targets with low off-target effects and highest likelihood to knock out the function of a gene. Finally, the user experience has straightforward workflows for both advanced researchers as well as first-time CRISPR users.

The new Synthego CRISPR tools are free to use and available at http://design.synthego.com