Crispr
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Segments of bacteria and archaea DNA containing short repetitions of base sequences. countable, uncountable
"Crispr is a guide molecule made of RNA, that allows a specific site of interest on the DNA double helix to be targeted."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of CRISPR. alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 3 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. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 4 Any technique or process or system for editing genomes by laboratory use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system. countable, uncountable
- 1 To edit genomes by laboratory use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system. informal
"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."
Example
More examples"The New York research team was able to send the Cas9 enzyme to locate and destroy a target within a particular strain of a harmful bacteria by engineering the CRISPR spacer sequences so that it matched the “bad microbe’s” genes."
Etymology
Acronym of clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.