jan 1, 1994 - Maria Jasin's Lab is the First to Introduce a Double-Strand Break

Description:

Jasin took the I-Scei endonuclease from yeast since it was the most specific one known at the time. It required a matching 18 character strand of DNA to make a cut. Using mouse cells, she was able to use this nuclease to cut the DNA strands. At the same time, she would provide a synthetic DNA sequence matching the one that was cut. Her experiment proved that it was more efficient to induce HR by creating a double-strand break compared to a control group. This sparked the search for new nucleases that were specific and customizable so that researchers could cut DNA wherever they wanted (Doudna 28).

Added to timeline:

Date: