CRISPR Cas9 Service vs. CRISPR Cas9 Kit

CRISPR Cas9 Kit: Some labs will order a CRISPR-Cas9 kit from vendors to perform in-house modifications to their DNA sequence. Today, there are a variety of CRISPR kits to choose from depending on the desired outcome: CRISPR plasmid kits, CRISPR ribonucleoprotein kits, CRISPR/Cas9 lentiviral knockout kits, CRISPR activation kits, CRISPR interference kits, homology-directed repair kits, prime editing kits, and custom CRISPR library kits.

As simple as this DIY kit may appear on vendor websites, there are several issues you may experience:

1. Essential expertise and skill: A CRISPR protocol may look simple enough, however, if you are inexperienced with more basic molecular biology kits, a CRISPR kit protocol may be overwhelming. Steps including synthesis, transfection/transduction, screening, and validating might be more complicated than anticipated. More importantly, if the DNA sequence you are working with has a naturally low fidelity, your CRISPR kit may not be appropriate.
2. Technical complexity: If you are working on more complex and advanced gene-editing projects, such as in vivo editing, specialized delivery methods, or large-scale applications, a CRISPR kit may not be able to produce your desired outcome.
3. Required time: Simple experiments like modifying a single segment within well-researched genes using single-stranded donor DNA templates using a CRISPR kit may be more time-efficient compared to a CRISPR service. However, if you are looking to perform a CRISPR knock in on a genome sequence, activate certain genes, or modify viral genomes, a CRISPR service makes more sense. This means less time spent on important research tasks.
4. Low scalability: If interested in editing multiple DNA samples simultaneously in slightly or very different ways to monitor their behavior, you need to use several kits to achieve the outcome.
5. Materials required: Not all labs are equipped with the necessary materials and equipment that a CRISPR Cas9 kit requires, such as a PCR thermal cycler, agarose gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometer, microcentrifuge, or shaking incubator. CRISPR kits may have a smaller upfront cost, but the additional materials and equipment rental may increase the overall cost.
6. Quality control not included: CRISPR kits do not normally include QC assays to ensure the accuracy of the desired outcome. This can be crucial for obtaining consistent and reproducible results.