27^th European Biotechnology Congress

CRISPR-Cas 9 and Gene Editing

“CRISPR” (pronounced as “Crisper”) is an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. The functions of CRISPR and CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes are the hallmark of a bacterial defence system that are essential in adaptive immunity in select bacteria and archaea. These sequences enable the host organisms to respond to and neutralize invading genetic material. “CRISPR” or “CRISPR-Cas9” is often used (inaccurately) to refer to the different CRISPR-Cas9 and other systems that can be programmed to edit DNA at precise locations. It can also be used for other purposes, such as new diagnostic tools. With these systems, genes can be permanently modified in living cells and organisms. It may be possible, in the future, to correct mutations at precise locations in the human genome for the treatment of genetic disease.