CRISPR technology-a brave new world for microbes

Abstract

human genome and the possibilities of cutting out and replacing those pieces of the human genome that carry illness and disease. As can be anticipated, ethical issues abound as one contemplates moving in this direction. We give tribute to those who were the first to discover ways to transfer genetic material, but also greatly acknowledge all who have contributed to the efforts in genetic engineering of bacteria through the years, both preceding and following all major discoveries. Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen first accomplished genetic engineering as the direct transfer of DNA from one organism to another in 1972. Development work in this area led through the years to the first description of what would later be called CRISPR. It came from researcher Yoshizumi Ishino and his colleagues in 1987 at Osaka University. They accidentally cloned part of a CRISPR gene region together with the iap gene, their target of interest. Then most recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided to grant two new CRISPR patents to UC Berkeley, home of Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist who many consider the creator of CRISPR, giving her legal ownership of the unique invention.