Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Science

Engineered enzyme could improve detection of HIV and other viruses

Scientists have long used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR to make precise changes to DNA. But a different version of the technology, known as Cas13a, targets RNA, the genetic material found in viruses such as HIV. Now, researchers at Rice University have developed an improved version of C...

Engineered enzyme could improve detection of HIV and other viruses
Image: Phys.org
Scientists have long used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR to make precise changes to DNA. But a different version of the technology, known as Cas13a, targets RNA, the genetic material found in viruses such as HIV. Now, researchers at Rice University have developed an improved version of Cas13a that could make it easier to detect HIV and other RNA viruses in blood and environmental samples. The study was published in Cell Chemical Biology.

Originally published at Phys.org

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