Team:Tufts/Description
Description
Our project was based on the concept of a toehold switch. A toehold switch is a hairpin of RNA that is able to be used as a mechanism to activate the translation of certain proteins. The toehold consists of a ribosome binding site, a start codon, and a switch region. In our project, the RNAs complementary to the switch region were theoretically those miRNAs that are emitted when disease processes occur in the human body. Thus, activating the switch with these miRNAs would allow for detection of disease.
How exactly would this work?
- First, a mRNA linked to a particular disease would bind to the switch region of the toehold
- This would cause the collapse of the toehold, freeing the start codon and allowing for translation.
- The protein being translated would be Cas13a, which when activated by a guide RNA, cleaves RNA nondescriminantly.
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References
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