New Bicistronic TALENs Enhance Genome Editing

Experts from Spain developed a new, more efficient type of transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) for gene editing. The description of the new bicistronic TALENs is published in Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology.

The researchers generated bicistonic genes wherein the classical TALEN coding sequences are connected by 2A elements to different reporter molecules including fluorochromes (TALEN‐F) or membrane receptors (TALEN‐M). This structure led to transcription of two proteins from the same transcript, where the second (the reporter) can be utilized as the target for selection through fluorescence‐assisted cell sorting or magnetic‐activated cell sorting. The use of these new TALEN genes enables quick enrichment of cells wherein both members of the TALEN pair are active, therefore getting rid of the prolonged selection in culture and labor-intensive characterization of too many clones.

Read more in Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology.