Precision BioSciences

ARCUS is a proprietary genome editing technology developed by Precision BioSciences, based on the naturally occurring homing endonuclease I-CreI. I-CreI evolved in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to make highly specific cuts and DNA insertions in cellular DNA. It is a member of the LAGLIDADG family of homing endonucleases, which are characterized by their ability to recognize and cleave long DNA sequences with high specificity. I-CreI functions as a homodimer, binding to a 22-nucleotide sequence and inducing a double-strand break, which facilitates gene targeting and repair processes.