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Updated: May 19, 2026

11:53
Substrate Generation for Endonucleases of CRISPR/Cas Systems
Published on: September 8, 2012
CRISPR-Cas: to take up DNA or not-that is the question
Ariel D Weinberger1, Michael S Gilmore
1Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Cell Host & Microbe
|August 21, 2012
Abstract:
Landmark experiments in the 1920s showed that capsule switching is critical for Streptococcus pneumonia survival. Further studies demonstrated that capsule "transformation" occurs via DNA uptake. In this issue of Cell Host and Microbe, Bikard et al. (2012) show that CRISPR-Cas systems inhibit DNA uptake, selecting for the outgrowth of CRISPR-defective pneumococci.
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