Applications of CRISPR-Cas in its natural habitat

Key components of CRISPR-Cas systems have been adapted into a powerful genome-editing tool that has caught the headlines and the attention of the public. Canonically, a customized RNA serves to guide an endonuclease (e.g. Cas9) to its DNA target, resulting in precise genomic lesions that can be repaired in a personalized fashion by cellular machinery. Here, we turn to the microbes that are the source of this system to explore many of its other …