Recent Advances in CRISPR-Cas Genome Engineering: An Overview

Abstract

Bacteria is one of the most primitive organisms on earth. Its high susceptibility to bacteriophages has tailored them to use specific tools to edit their genome and evade the bacteriophages. This defense system has been developed to be the most specific genome editing technology of this current period. Previously, various other tools such as restriction enzymes (RE), zinc finger nucleases (ZNF), and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENS) were utilized. Still, its major limitations led to exploiting the bacterial defense system to edit the genome. CRISPR technology can be applied in various microbiology, pathology, cancer biology, molecular biology, and industrial biotechnology, but its limitations, such as off-target effects due to unspecific alterations, are a major concern. In the future, this effective gene alteration technology will be developed to treat inherited rare genetic disorders. This chapter highlights the discovery, components, applications, limitations, and future prospects of CRISPR-Cas.