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Bacteria, like humans, face infections from viruses. And like humans, bacteria have also developed various anti-virus systems. One example is the CRISPR-Cas system. After its discovery in 2005, we worked out in detail how this system works. It turned out that CRISPR-Cas can very specifically recognise the DNA of viruses, and then cut it to pieces. Moreover, it turned out that we can very easily adjust the specificity of the DNA-cutting enzymes. That means we can basically cut any desired spot on a chromosome (of viruses, but also of bacteria, plants and animals), and then make a change there. These fundamental insights have led to a revolution. The bacterial immune system can be used for a wide range of applications, from biotechnology (micro-organisms, plants) to gene therapy (humans).
Biography
John van der Oost received his PhD from the ‘Vrij Universiteit’ in Amsterdam (1989). After postdoc positions in Helsinki, Heidelberg and Amsterdam, he has been leader of the Bacterial Genetics research group in the Microbiology Laboratory of Wageningen University since 1995. For his research, he received a number of prestigious grants from NWO and the European Research Council. He is a member of the ‘Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie voor Wetenschappen (KNAW)’, the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and the Academia Europaea. In particular, for his work on CRISPR-Cas, he received a number of awards, including the ‘Spinoza premie’.
John van der Oost, Wageningen University
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