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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Substrate Generation for Endonucleases of CRISPR/Cas Systems
Published on: September 8, 2012
Shooting the messenger: RNA-targetting CRISPR-Cas systems
Yifan Zhu1, Sanne E Klompe1, Marnix Vlot1
1Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Since the discovery of CRISPR-Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, CRISPR-associated genes) immune systems, astonishing progress has been made on revealing their mechanistic foundations. Due to the immense potential as genome engineering tools, research has mainly focussed on a subset of Cas nucleases that target DNA. In addition, however, distinct types of RNA-targetting CRISPR-Cas systems have been identified. The focus of this review will be on the interference mechanisms of the RNA targetting type III and type VI CRISPR-Cas systems, their biological relevance and their potential for applications.
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