CRISPR-Cas: Removing Boundaries of the Nature

Abstract

The CRISPR-Cas 9 system, which is known as a natural way of bacteria to defend against phage infection and plasmid transfer, has been re-purposed as a RNA-guided DNA targeting strategy for genome editing. Together with the advances gained in DNA sequencing technology, this platform opened a new era in molecular biology since its recognition was specified by 20-nt single-guide RNA which made technique easier, efficient and simple for application in any organism. Thus, many studies have discussed and performed the applications of CRISPR-Cas systems on different organisms for genome editing. Moreover, targeted gene regulations, epigenetic modulation, chromatin imaging and manipulation could also be applied with this system. Besides all its potential promising aspects, this tool might have some side effects like off-target mutations. In addition, unexpected results have also been reported after some gene editing applications. Thus, this review provides a brief history of gene editing tools together with the overview of the latest applications, regulations and ethical/structural aspects of the CRISPR Cas system. © 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.