Engineered DNA-Binding Proteins for Targeted Genome Editing and Gene Regulation

Engineered DNA-binding proteins enable targeted manipulation of the genome. Zinc fingers are the most well characterized DNA-binding domain and for many years research has focused on understanding and manipulating the sequence-specificities of these proteins. Recently, major advances in the ability to engineer zinc finger proteins, as well as the discovery of a new class of DNA-binding domains - transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs), have made it possible to rapidly and reliably engineer proteins targeted to any sequence of interest. With this capability, focus has shifted to exploring the applications of this powerful technology. In this dissertation I explore three important applications of engineered DNA-binding proteins.