What is CRISPR?
CRISPR is the abbreviation for Clustered Regulatory Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeats, and was discovered as an ancient prokaryotic immune system, protecting bacteria against viral infections. The CRISPR system allow scientists to alter the genome of any organism.
How does it work?
CRISPR allows the recognition of specific DNA and RNA sequences by Cas, a protein that cleaves DNA. Subsequent repair of the broken DNA allows precise modification of the target site. CRISPR can be envisioned as a cut-and-paste toolbox that enables scientists to precisely and selectively edit DNA and RNA sequences.
Opportunities
Genome engineering through CRISPR is offering many new and exciting possibilities for biomedical research as well as opening up potential clinical applications in the future. The CRISPR Center is established to assist you to fully take advantage of CRISPR and its applications.