Biology Now, 2e

The genome editing tool CRISPR, short for “clustered regularly interspaced short

palindromic repeats,” has taken molecular biology laboratories by storm over

the past 5 years. It has been used to edit the genomes of crops and

livestock to improve breeding and production, to control populations of

disease-carrying insects, to silence genetic disorders in animal models, and

more. Here are a few highlights from the short but shining history of CRISPR.

The Meteoric

Rise of CRISPR

Assessment available in

CRISPR

PubMed search results for “CRISPR” by year

2,143

Search results article count 1,258

607

282

126

79

6 12 21 32 45

1 1 0 5

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The term “CRISPR” is

coined by researchers

in Spain and the

Netherlands.

The final necessary piece

for the genome editing system

is identified: a second

small RNA needed to guide

Cas9 to its targets.

In China, scientists use

CRISPR-Cas9 to edit

preimplantation human embryos,

repairing a mutated gene that

would cause a blood disorder.

Subsequently, an international

ban prohibits the use of genome

editing to make changes to the

human genome.

CRISPR repeats are

first observed in

bacterial genomes.

Their significance

is not yet known.

Researchers propose

that CRISPR functions

in nature as part of a

bacterial adaptive

immune system.

The CRISPR-Cas9

system is used to edit

targeted genes in both

human and mouse cells,

and later plant cells.

The first human trial to

use CRISPR genome editing

gets approval from the

National Institutes of

Health, in a cancer

therapy trial to edit a

patient’s own immune

system cells.

2002 2011 2015

1987 2006 2013 2016