Structures of immune cascade complexes from bacteria. These include CRISPR complexes from different bacteria,with guide RNA, target DNA, and the Cas1, Cas2, Cas3, and Cas9 nucleases. This collection of structures can be used to show how bacteria recognize and destroy viral DNA. This system has become an important tool for genome engineering.
iBiology has two nice videos on CRISPR-Cas9
- Jennifer Doudna, one of the women who discovered this process, explains how this works in Genome Engineering with CRISPR-Cas9: Birth of a Breakthrough Technology
- CRISPR: A word processor for the genome by Youreka Science has some helpful animations.
All the structures below can be viewed in Molecule World on the iPad or Molecule World for iPhone.
We have a tutorial here for exploring the CRISPR Cas9 system in Molecule World.
Bio-Link presented a webinar on Genome Engineering with CRISPR Cas9 on Sept 30th.
Structures in the collection
| Type | Description | Download structure |
|---|---|---|
| An MW Collection |
Collections can be downloaded in one step and viewed in the iPad version of Molecule World. Individual structures can be viewed in either version. Download the entire collection of CRISPR structures by clicking the link in the next column. Download individual structures using the links below. |
 CRISPR_2.mwc |
| MMDB |
 Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes with CRISPR RNA about to cut to double-stranded target DNA. |
Cas9 + CRISPR RNA + target DNA ready to cut mmdb_5F9R.cn3 |
| MMDB |
Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 bound to guide RNA and a single-stranded DNA target. |
mmdb_4OO8.cn3 |
| MMDB |
 Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes with CRISPR RNA bound to double-stranded target DNA. |
Cas9 + CRISPR RNA + target DNA mmdb_4UN3.cn3 |
| MMDB |
 A Cascade CRISPR surveillance complex from E. coli |
mmdb_4TVX.cn3 |
| MMDB |
 Another structure of the Cascade CRISPR surveillance complex from E. coli |
Cascade complex + guide RNA, another view mmdb_4U7U.cn3 |
| MMDB |
 E. coli CRISPR complex with guide RNA bound to target DNA. |
CRISPR complex + RNA + target DNA mmdb_4QYZ.cn3 |
| MMDB |
 Cas1 and Cas2, nucleases from E. coli that chop up and store viral DNA. |
mmdb_4P6I.cn3 |
| MMDB |
 Cas3, a nuclease from Thermobifida fusca that attacks viral DNA. |
mmdb_4QQW.cn3 |