Progress and Application of CRISPR/Cas Technology in Biological and Biomedical Investigation

Based on the tremendous progress of the understanding on the CRISPR-Cas systems, the application CRISPR/Cas technology has been extended into increasing scenarios in biological and biomedical investigation. The potency of gene editing has been greatly improved by the rapid development of engineered Cas9 variants and modified CRISPR platforms. As advanced sequencing technology identified vast causative genetic basis for human diseases, CRISPR toolkits are now able to mediate precise genetic disruption or correction in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we have discussed the recent development of the CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology and the extensive applications of the CRISPR platforms in biological and biomedical investigation, including disease modeling in animal and human cell line, development of gene therapy, as well as high-throughput genetic screening. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3061-3071, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.