The Power Couple: CRISPR And Oligonucelotides

By Gregory Farlow, Product Specialist DNA/RNA Synthesis Cytiva

The field of oligonucleotides, or oligos, is experiencing significant growth and holds great promise for detecting and treating various conditions and diseases that were previously untreatable. Oligos are short strands of synthetically made DNA and/or RNA that have the potential to revolutionize current treatments. Different types of nucleotide chains are included within nucleic acid therapeutics, including pDNA, mRNA, and oligonucleotides, each with its own molecular structure, therapeutic indication, and manufacturing process. Short oligos are leading the way in both preclinical and commercial markets and have shown efficacy in personalized genomic medicines. However, the use of long oligos is expected to grow explosively due to CRISPR technology. CRISPR technology is a gene-editing technique breaking new ground. Drug design using CRISPR depends on long gRNA sequences. Find out how this love match between long oligos and CRISPR works, despite the challenges in synthesizing long oligos.