Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) are repetitive DNA sequences found in bacteria that serve as a natural immune system. When bacteria encounter viruses, they capture snippets of the virus DNA and store them in their CRISPR regions. If the same virus invades again, the bacteria use these stored snippets to produce special proteins called Cas enzymes that cut the viral DNA, preventing infection. Scientists have harnessed this system to precisely edit genes in other organisms, including humans, by designing CRISPR tools to target specific DNA sequences and make desired changes efficiently and accurately.