You can. A CRISPR kit lets you edit one gene in harmless E. coli bacteria and see the result on an agar plate, using the same Cas9 enzyme research labs use.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
What a CRISPR kit does
CRISPR uses an enzyme called Cas9 and a guide RNA that leads it to one spot in the DNA. Cas9 cuts there, and the cell repairs the cut.
In a bacterial kit you put the Cas9 gene, the guide RNA and a DNA repair template into E. coli. The ODIN's kit changes a gene called rpsL so the bacteria can grow on streptomycin, and The ODIN says the colonies that survive on those plates are the edited ones.
miniPCR's Knockout! lab targets a gene called lacZ. Bacteria with a working lacZ turn blue on X-gal, and the ones CRISPR has knocked out stay white.
A kit makes the one edit it was designed for. It won't let you pick a new gene, or edit a plant or an animal.
Advanced high school to college, after a transformation lab
miniPCR bio
Carolina CRISPR in a Box
DNA in a tube, with no living cells
Several editing outcomes from one reaction
Advanced high school and intro college, 10 groups
Carolina Biological Supply
Edvotek 210 A-Maize-ing Editing
A simulation: you design four guide RNAs for a crop gene
An agarose gel
8 lab groups
Amazon, below
A classroom CRISPR kit on Amazon
Edvotek's A-Maize-ing Editing kit works on DNA, with no bacteria to grow. Groups design four guide RNAs, check how specific each one is with BLAST, and test all four plus a control.
The results show up on an agarose gel, so it needs a gel box and a light to read the gel. Edvotek lists a DNA electrophoresis setup as required, with 5 to 50 µL micropipettes as optional, plus a microwave or hot plate.
The M12 Ultra package is Edvotek's chamber with the TruBlu Jr. blue light, which shows gels stained with SYBR Safe or GelGreen without UV.
CRISPR classroom kit
Edvotek 210 A-Maize-ing Editing CRISPR kit
A CRISPR-Cas9 simulation for 8 lab groups. Design four guide RNAs, check them with BLAST, then test them with a control on an agarose gel.
Edvotek M12 Ultra electrophoresis and blue light package
An electrophoresis chamber with accessories and the battery-powered TruBlu Jr. transilluminator, which lights blue-light dyes such as SYBR Safe and GelGreen at 470 nm.
The ODIN, in Oakland, sells the best-known home CRISPR kit. It also sells human cell culture supplies and publishes a DIY human CRISPR guide on its website. That guide describes editing human DNA, and says a product it features is not injectable and not meant for human use.
In 2017, Bavarian health authorities found harmful bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, in an ODIN bacterial CRISPR kit sold in Germany. Europe's disease control agency, the ECDC, judged the infection risk low for healthy users. The ODIN's current kit lists a non-pathogenic DH5α strain.
What you need besides the kit
The kit's lab strain grows faster when it's kept warm. An incubator holds a steady temperature for the plates, and The ODIN's own guide says a warm water bath can stand in for one.
The ODIN ships its biological materials freeze-dried and says some reagents need a refrigerator once they arrive.
Extra agar plates let you practice streaking and transforming before you open the kit. How to use a micropipette covers the pipetting, and lab safety equipment covers gloves and goggles.
Agar plates
EZ BioResearch LB agar plates and swabs
10 pre-poured 100 mm LB agar plates and 10 sterile 6-inch swabs, made in the USA.
Bacterial CRISPR kits are sold openly in the United States, to schools and hobbyists alike.
Human use is where the law steps in. In November 2017 the FDA said that selling do-it-yourself gene therapy kits for self-administration is against the law.
California went further in 2019. Its SB 180 requires anyone selling a gene therapy kit in the state to say "The kit is not for self-administration" on the website and on the package.
Reading about CRISPR
CRISPR, A Powerful Way to Change DNA is an illustrated introduction for readers 14 to 17. It starts with DNA and genetic modification, then asks what CRISPR should change.
The Code Breaker follows Jennifer Doudna, who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for CRISPR. More titles are in genetics books worth reading.
Book, Walter Isaacson
The Code Breaker
Jennifer Doudna and the discovery of CRISPR gene editing, from her lab to the ethics of editing human embryos. Paperback.
An illustrated 116-page introduction by Yolanda Ridge and Alex Boersma, covering DNA and genetic modification before what CRISPR could change. Paperback.
Yes, in bacteria. Home kits from The ODIN edit a gene in harmless E. coli, and you read the result from which colonies grow on the plates.
It depends on the kit. The ODIN's starter version is its lowest-cost CRISPR kit, and classroom kits made for 8 to 10 groups cost the most. Prices change, so check the seller's page.
The ODIN's kit includes the bacteria, plasmids, media, plates and a pipette. You add a warm place for the plates, such as an incubator, and a refrigerator for some reagents.
The bacterial kits edit E. coli and nothing else. The FDA said in 2017 that selling DIY gene therapy kits for self-administration is against the law.
No. Each kit is built for one edit in bacteria. Edvotek's crop kit is a simulation run on a gel, with no living plant.
The ODIN lists the DH5α lab strain, which is non-pathogenic. In 2017 the ECDC judged the infection risk low for healthy users, even for a kit found contaminated in Germany.
