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INHIBITIONS OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS REPLICATION WITH THE HELP OF CRISPR/CAS 9 TECHNOLOGY

DR. MuhammadUmarFarooq*, Mehwish

Hepatitis c infection caused by Hepatitis c virus (HBV) is a major world-wide health problem. Current therapeutic strategies rarely eradicate HBV infections and fail to attain complete cure. There is urgent need to develop advanced treatment strategies to successfully remove HBV infection and eliminate hidden reservoirs of virus. Recently, the establishment of a novel RNA-guided gene editing tool known as the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system, has significantly enabled site-specific mutagenesis and characterizes a very beneficial possible therapeutic means for diseases which includes extermination of invasive pathogens e.g. HBV. This review highlights the recent developments in the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to specifically target HBV DNA sequences for inhibition of replication of HBV and to bring mutations in viral genome, animal models. Benefits, restrictions and viable solutions, and proposed guidelines for forthcoming study in CRISPR/Cas9 are described to highlight the chances and challenges for curative therapy of chronic hepatitis B infection. Keywords: Hepatitis c virus (HBV), covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), CRISPR/Cas9, inhibition of HBV replication, antiviral therapy.

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