Abstract
Programmable DNA cleavage using CRISPR–Cas9 enables efficient, site-specific genome engineering in single cells and whole organisms. In the research arena, versatile CRISPR-enabled genome editing has been used in various ways, such as controlling transcription, modifying epigenomes, conducting genome-wide screens and imaging chromosomes. CRISPR systems are already being used to alleviate genetic disorders in animals and are likely to be employed soon in the clinic to treat human diseases of the eye and blood. Two clinical trials using CRISPR-Cas9 for targeted cancer therapies have been approved in China and the United States. Beyond biomedical applications, these tools are now being used to expedite crop and livestock breeding, engineer new antimicrobials and control disease-carrying insects with gene drives.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge their laboratory members, collaborators and colleagues throughout the CRISPR community for fruitful discussions and insightful opinions. We also thank A. Briner for assistance with figures and graphic design, and M. Perry and C. Desplan for providing the picture of butterflies. Data regarding CRISPR deposits and distributions through Addgene were provided courtesy of N. Waxmonsky and J. Welch at Addgene, Inc. (http://www.addgene.org/).
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R.B. and J.A.D. are inventors on several patents related to various uses of CRISPR–Cas systems. R.B. is a board member of Caribou Biosciences, a founder and advisor of Intellia Therapeutics, a founder and advisor of Locus Biosciences; J.A.D. is a co-founder and advisor of Caribou Biosciences and Intellia Therapeutics, and a co-founder of Editas Medicine; these companies are involved in commercialization of CRISPR applications
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Barrangou, R., Doudna, J. Applications of CRISPR technologies in research and beyond. Nat Biotechnol 34, 933–941 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3659
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3659
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