CRISPR

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Acronym of clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈkrɪspər/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪspə(ɹ)

Noun

CRISPR (countable and uncountable, plural CRISPRs)

  1. (microbiology) Segments of bacteria and archaea DNA containing short repetitions of base sequences. [from 2002]
    Synonym: (2002-2) SRSR
    • 2018 October 14, Sarah Marsh, “Essays reveal Stephen Hawking predicted race of 'superhumans'”, in The Guardian‎:
      Crispr is a guide molecule made of RNA, that allows a specific site of interest on the DNA double helix to be targeted.
  2. (genetics) The CRISPR/Cas9 system, which functions to provide immunity to bacteria and archaea by finding a section of DNA and replacing it with an alternative.
    • 2019 July 29, Rob Stein, “In A 1st, Doctors In U.S. Use CRISPR Tool To Treat Patient With Genetic Disorder”, in npr‎:
      For the first time, doctors in the U.S. have used the powerful gene-editing technique CRISPR to try to treat a patient with a genetic disorder.
  3. Any technique or process or system for editing genomes by laboratory use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Verb

CRISPR (third-person singular simple present CRISPRs, present participle CRISPRing, simple past and past participle CRISPRed)

  1. (informal) To edit genomes by laboratory use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system.
    • 2017, Robin L. Smith, Max Gomez, Cells Are the New Cure:
      In this planned trial, doctors will remove cancer patients' T cells, “CRISPR” them, and then reinfuse them in the hope that they will recognize and attack the patients' cancers.
    • 2017, Alexandra Franz, Erich Brunner, Konrad Baslter, “Generation of genome-modified Drosophila cell lines using SwAP”, in Fly, volume 11, number 4:
      Having CRISPRed the cells we next wanted to identify the types of modification that have been generated.
    • 2017 May, Marc D. Ruben, John B. Hogenesch, “Circadian Rhythms: Move over neurons—astrocytes mediate SCN clock function”, in Current Biology, volume 27, number 9:
      Two successful applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in an SCN- and cell-type-specific fashion [5] will all but certainly add to the common refrain of 'just CRISPR it' (grad students and postdocs, insert groan here).

Further reading
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