The End of Snoring? Application of CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing for Sleep Disorders

Abstract

Science selected it as the 2015 Breakthrough of the Year: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, also known as CRISPR. Adaptive immunity in some bacteria and archaea allow to respond and eliminate invading genetic material; CRISPR and CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes are new molecular techniques that allow deleting, replacing or otherwise editing DNA. Using modified bacterial protein and a RNA that allows a guidance to a specific DNA sequence, CRISPR provides a striking control over several genes by not deleting the entire gene but just inactivating it by deleting few bases. CRISPR/Cas9 has been used to generate knockout cells or animals by co-expressing a gRNA specific to the gene to be targeted and the endonuclease Cas9. This novel system has been tested in diverse species, with promising potential uses in humans. Theoretically, CRISPR/Cas9 will be able to remove genetic mutations related to incurable diseases, such as HIV, and certain cancer types. This scenario draws tentative and promising conditions using CRISPR/Cas9 as preventive and therapeutic tool in medical area. As expected, several groups have begun to test the putative gene editing properties of CRISPR/Cas9 on human cells. Since sleep disorders have been linked with specific genes, in this review, we suggest areas that require further investigation and experimental and/or clinical approaches to treat sleep disturbances using CRISPR/Cas9.