The CRISPR-Cas genetic engineering technology has revolutionized our ability to manipulate genomes for biological discovery and medicine.

What makes CRISPR-Cas so powerful is its programmability: scientists can swap out a short guide RNA segment to redirect the CRISPR-Cas genetic scissors towards a new target sequence in our DNA, where it can make precise edits to the genetic code. Dr. Patrick Hsu from the Arc Institute and University of California, Berkeley has recently developed new RNA-guided tools that offer more powerful ways to manipulate genome organization at a large scale – rearranging the pages and chapters of the book of life, instead of fixing typos.

In this SciCafe, Hsu will discuss how his research group is bringing together new programmable genetic engineering systems and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to tackle major questions in genomics. He will also share the story of the Arc Institute, a new research institute he co-founded in 2021 to explore the intersection of AI and biotechnology as a catalyst for understanding complex disease.