A HiUGE Improvement

Cell biologists in the Scott Soderling Lab at Duke University have developed a new method to make it much easier and faster for neuroscientists to study individual proteins in a living brain. Based on CRISPR gene editing technology, “Homology-independent Universal Genome Engineering”, or HiUGE, uses adeno-associated viruses to deliver multiple “plug and play” gene sequences to a variety of cells in a lab dish or a living organism. (The colored neurons in this image are in a mouse brain.) The new technique should revolutionize high-throughput studies to identify, label and interpret the functions of individual proteins. (Neuron, July 1, 2019)