Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Bikard D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4317352 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Bikard David D Euler Chad W CW Jiang Wenyan W Nussenzweig Philip M PM Goldberg Gregory W GW Duportet Xavier X Fischetti Vincent A VA Marraffini Luciano A LA
Nature biotechnology 20141005 11
Antibiotics target conserved bacterial cellular pathways or growth functions and therefore cannot selectively kill specific members of a complex microbial population. Here, we develop programmable, sequence-specific antimicrobials using the RNA-guided nuclease Cas9 (refs.1,2) delivered by a bacteriophage. We show that Cas9, reprogrammed to target virulence genes, kills virulent, but not avirulent, Staphylococcus aureus. Reprogramming the nuclease to target antibiotic resistance genes destroys st ...[more]