CRISPR-based adaptive immune systems.

CRISPR-Cas: the effective immune systems in the prokaryotes

Approximately all sequenced archaeal and half of eubacterial genomes have some sort of adaptive immune system, which enables them to target and cleave invading foreign genetic elements by an RNAi-like pathway. CRISPR–Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats–CRISPR-associated proteins) systems consist of the CRISPR loci with multiple copies of a short repeat sequence separa...

The application and mechanism of CRISPR-Cas systems in the treatment of infectious diseases

Infectious diseases remain a global threat with many people annually contracting the epidemic diseases. Improved understanding of the pathogenesis of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, along with rapid diagnosis and treatment of human infections are essential to improving infectious diseases outcomes worldwide. In many genomic loci in bacteria and archea, termed Clustered Regularly Inters...

SnapShot: CRISPR-RNA-Guided Adaptive Immune Systems

Bacteria and archaea have evolved sophisticated adaptive immune systems that reply on CRISPR loci and a diverse cassette of Cas genes that are classified into three main types and at least eleven subtypes. All CRISPR-Cas immune systems operate through three main stages: acquisition, biogenesis, and interference. This SnapShot summarizes our current knowledge of these fascinating immune systems.

Detecting natural adaptation of the Streptococcus thermophilus CRISPR-Cas systems in research and classroom settings.

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas systems have been adapted into a powerful genome-editing tool. The basis for the flexibility of the tool lies in the adaptive nature of CRISPR-Cas as a bacterial immune system. Here, we describe a protocol to experimentally demonstrate the adaptive nature of this bacterial immune system by challenging the model organism for ...

CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity and developments in CRISPR-Cas applications: Reply to comments on "Diversity, evolution, and therapeutic applications of small RNAs in prokaryotic and eukaryotic immune systems"