Precision Medicine, CRISPR, and Genome Engineering

Celvie L. Yuan, Yueh-Chiang Hu

The use of animal models, particularly rodents, has been immensely important to nearly all aspects of biomedical research, from basic science exploration to translational discoveries into clinical applications. The transgenic core facility that provides animal model production, preservation, and recovery services has been fundamental to the success of research efforts using animals. Recent advances in genome editing technologies, especially the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) enzyme system, have transformed the tedious animal model production into a simple and effective procedure. We, as a transgenic core facility established in 1993, adopted the CRISPR/Cas9 technology in early 2014 and have experienced the dramatic shift in the practice of animal model production, from the conventional embryonic stem cell approach to the direct genomic editing in rodent embryos. In this chapter, we describe the lessons that we learned from more than 200 genome editing projects performed in this core facility within the past 3 years. We also provide the practical guidelines for efficient generation of animal models using this technology and the insights into where new technologies lead us.