Bacteria and archaea possess adaptive immunity against foreign genetic materials through clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) systems. The discovery of this intriguing bacterial system heralded a revolutionary change in the field of medical science. The CRISPR and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) based molecular mechanism has been applied to genome editing. This C...

To survive the constant invasions by foreign genetic elements, prokaryotes have evolved various defensive systems. Almost all sequenced archaea, and half of the analysed bacteria use the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system, a recently identified prokaryotic immune system that can fend off invading elements in a sequence-specific mann...

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat paired associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) is a site-specific genome editing tool that enables scientists to edit or introduce genetic mutation at will. CRISPR-Cas9 consists of two essential key players; programmable RNA called single guide (sgRNA) and the Cas9 which functions as molecular scissors does cutting. Since its discovery, ha...

Prokaryotic adaptive immune systems are composed of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins. These systems adapt to new threats by integrating short nucleic acids, termed spacers, into the CRISPR array. The functional motifs in the repeat and the mechanism by which a constant repeat size is maintained are still elusive. Here, throu...

The genetic modifications through breeding of crop plants have long been used to improve the yield and quality. However, precise genome editing (GE) could be a very useful supplementary tool for improvement of crop plants by targeted genome modifications. Various GE techniques including ZFNs (zinc finger nucleases), TALENs (transcription activator-like effector nucleases), and most recently clu...

CRISPR (cluster of regularly interspaced palindromic repeats)/Cas and CRISPR/Cmr systems of Sulfolobus, targeting DNA and RNA respectively of invading viruses or plasmids are complex and diverse. We address their classification and functional diversity, and the wide sequence diversity of RAMP (repeat-associated mysterious protein)-motif containing proteins encoded in Cmr modules. Factors influe...

BACKGROUND Microinjection of clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9)-related RNA and DNA into fertilized eggs is a novel approach for creating gene-modified mice. Blastocysts obtained just before implantation may be appropriate for testing the fidelity of CRIPSR/Cas9-mediated genome editing because they can be individually handled in...

RATIONALE The participation of endothelial cells (EC) in many physiological and pathological processes is widely modeled using human EC cultures, but genetic manipulation of these untransformed cells has been technically challenging. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 nuclease (Cas9) technology offers a promising new approach. However,...

Small RNAs target invaders for silencing in the CRISPR-Cas pathways that protect bacteria and archaea from viruses and plasmids. The CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) contain sequence elements acquired from invaders that guide CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins back to the complementary invading DNA or RNA. Here, we have analyzed essential features of the crRNAs associated with the Cas RAMP module (Cmr) effec...

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as versatile master regulator of biological functions in recent years. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous ncRNAs of 18-24 nucleotides in length that originates from long self-complementary precursors. Besides their direct involvement in developmental processes, plant miRNAs play key roles in gene regulatory networks and varied biological processes. Alt...