CRISPRi allows scientists to understand biological pathways, processes, and disease pathologies by repressing genes at the transcription level. The new reagents include synthetic single-guide RNAs for CRISPRi, as well as deactivated Cas9 (dCas9)-SALL1-SDS3 transcriptional repressors for messenger RNA (mRNA) and lentiviral formats.

The new technologies will repress genes in most cell lines, over any length of time, and at any scale -- from single-gene readouts to high-throughput studies, according to the firm. The proprietary dCas9-SALL1-SDS3 repressor was developed in-house at Horizon Discovery.

"CRISPRi is gene knockdown, not knockout. It's CRISPR without the cut, so it offers a temporary and nuanced approach which is ideal for researchers looking to mimic cellular effects of small molecule drugs or do multiplexed gene interrogation," said Alan Fletcher, senior vice president of life sciences at PerkinElmer.