🧭 Guided View New to genetics? We explain every term as you browse, in plain English. Same pages, with the help built in.
⚡ Expert View You already know the biology. Just the content — clean and compact, no extra explanations. This is the default view.
Interface language
Light mode
Research paper · Foundational
A programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity
The paper that turned CRISPR from a curiosity of bacterial immunity into a programmable tool.
Simple explanation
This is the paper that started modern gene editing. It showed that the Cas9 protein could be aimed at any DNA sequence you chose simply by giving it a matching RNA guide — and that the two natural RNA pieces could be fused into one, making the whole system far easier to use.
Go deeper
Jinek, Chylinski, Fonfara, Hauer, Doudna and Charpentier demonstrated that Cas9 cleavage is directed by a dual-RNA structure of crRNA and tracrRNA, that cleavage requires a PAM, and that the two RNAs can be fused into a single chimeric guide RNA. The single guide RNA is the engineering step that made the system practical for laboratories worldwide.
Educational information only
This page is a reference, not medical advice. Research and regulatory status change; check the last-updated date above and confirm anything important against the primary sources listed.