CRISPR technology: new paradigm to target the infectious disease pathogens

M.A. Bakhrebah, M.S. Nassar, M.S. Alsuabeyl, W.A. Zaher, S.A. Meo

Life Science and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. sultanmeo@hotmail.com

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• Infectious Diseases

OBJECTIVE: Infectious diseases are one of the prime causes of death worldwide. An innovative sequence specific editing technology “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)” has been tested on a broad range of microorganisms to target and destroy invading foreign DNA to human cells or tissues. This study aimed to discuss the mechanism and therapeutic usage of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology in the management of various infectious disease pathogens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a broad search of the English-language literature in “PubMed” using the search terms “CRISPR”, “Cas-9”, “Genome editing”, “Gene therapy”, “infectious disease pathogens”. All the articles were reviewed and required information was recorded.

RESULTS: CRISPR technology is used to modify and modulate the gene expression in biomedical research and therapeutic development. This technology facilitates the understanding of fundamental biology and broadens the horizon of treatments of germ-laden conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: The applications of CRISPR technology are widely established in the diagnosis and treatment of various bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infectious diseases. CRISPR technology is a simple, efficient and tested on a broad range of microorganisms to rectify disease-associated genetic defects and destroy invading foreign DNA to human cells or tissues.

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