CRISPR-Cas systems for genome editing of mammalian cells

In the past decade, ZFNs and TALENs have been used for targeted genome engineering and have gained scientific attention. It has demonstrated huge potential for gene knockout, knock-in, and indels in desired locations of genomes to understand molecular mechanism of diseases and also discover therapy. However, both the genome engineering techniques are still suffering from design, screening and validation in cell and higher organisms. CRISPR-Cas9 is a rapid, simple, specific, and versatile technology and it has been applied in many organisms including mammalian cells. CRISPR-Cas9 has been used for animal models to modify animal cells for understanding human disease for novel drug discovery and therapy. Additionally, base editing has also been discussed herewith for conversion of C/G-to-T/A or A/T-to-G/C without DNA cleavage or donor DNA templates for correcting mutations or altering gene functions. In this chapter, we highlight CRISPR-Cas9 and base editing for desired genome editing in mammalian cells for a better understanding of molecular mechanisms, and biotechnological and therapeutic applications.