本质上，自然发生的CRISPR具有细胞寻找和破坏能力。 在细菌中，CRISPR通过转录识别靶病毒DNA的间隔序列来工作。 由细胞产生的一种酶（例如Cas9）然后与靶DNA结合并切割它，关闭靶基因并使病毒失活。在实验室中，Cas9或另一种酶切割DNA，而CRISPR则告诉它在哪里剪断。 研究人员不是使用病毒特征，而是定制CRISPR间隔区来寻找感兴趣的基因。 科学家们修改了Cas9和其他蛋白质，例如Cpf1，以便它们可以切割或激活基因。 关闭和开启基因使科学家更容易研究基因的功能。 切割DNA序列可以很容易地用不同的序列进行替换。
澳洲墨尔本大学生物工程代写：CRISPR基因组编辑简介
Essentially, naturally-occurring CRISPR gives a cell seek-and-destroy capability. In bacteria, CRISPR works by transcribing spacer sequences that identify the target virus DNA. One of the enzymes produced by the cell (e.g., Cas9) then binds to the target DNA and cuts it, turning off the target gene and disabling the virus.In the laboratory, Cas9 or another enzyme cuts DNA, while CRISPR tells it where to snip. Rather than use viral signatures, researchers customize CRISPR spacers to seek genes of interest. Scientists have modified Cas9 and other proteins, such as Cpf1, so that they can either cut or else activate a gene. Turning a gene off and on makes it easier for scientists to study the function of a gene. Cutting a DNA sequence makes it easy to replace it with a different sequence.