Samenvatting

This literature review will focus on how CRISPR/Cas can be used in curing diabetes. CRISPR is a newly discovered genetical engineering tool that was first found in bacteria and it has an important immune function, protecting them from viral infections by cutting the viral DNA, thereby disabling it. Researchers discovered that this tool can cut any DNA molecule as long as there is a guide RNA sequence that matches the gene of interest. One way this can be used in curing diabetes is to knockout the genes that lead to the disease. Another way which has more potential is to genetically modify animal DNA to make cells that don’t trigger immune responses in humans, and then transplanting the pancreas. A third and newer way is to modify human stem cells to stop expressing the molecules (MHC) that trigger the immune system to launch an attack on non-host cells, then differentiating these cells into insulin secreting cells and implanting them into diabetic patients.