📚 Syllabus & Course Curriculum
Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering
Module-by-module breakdown of CRISPR-Cas Defense Mechanism, from foundations to a certified capstone project.
Origins
• Repeat-spacer arrays and how they were recognised as an immune memory
• Adaptation, expression and interference as the three phases of defence
• PAM recognition and the self versus non-self discrimination problem
Diversity
• Class 1 multi-subunit Cascade systems against Class 2 single-effector systems
• Cas9, Cas12 and Cas13 and their different cut chemistries and substrates
• Collateral cleavage in Cas12a and Cas13 and its diagnostic exploitation
Conflict
• Anti-CRISPR proteins and the mechanisms by which they disable effectors
• The evolutionary arms race shaping spacer acquisition rates
• Nucleus-like compartments and other phage strategies for evading detection
Repair
• NHEJ, MMEJ and HDR outcomes and their very different frequencies
• Indel spectra and why a knockout population is never uniform
• Base and prime editing as approaches that avoid the double-strand break
Application
• Why understanding the native system predicts engineering behaviour
• Off-target activity and the assays that measure it, including GUIDE-seq
• Diagnostics built on collateral cleavage, such as SHERLOCK and DETECTR
Earn government-registered certification in CRISPR-Cas Defense Mechanism
e-Certificate and e-Marksheet issued on successful completion.
