Genome-editing technologies and patent landscape overview

Unlike with zinc finger nuclease and transcriptional activator-like effector nuclease DNA modification technologies that rely on lead proteins, developed through expensive and time-consuming processes, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas system has rapidly emerged as the most promising gene-editing technology to date for the modification of any selected DNA sequence. CRISPR is receiving tremendous fanfare due, in part, to its potential to provide a means to fundamentally alter medical genetics and especially cancer medicine. In this review, we compare key technologies of genome-editing zinc finger nucleases, transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases and CRISPR, with a focus on the race to acquire lucrative intellectual property rights, the current CRISPR patent dispute and potential repercussions on innovation and the adoption of this promising technology by the medical community.