Jason Mast is a general assignment reporter at STAT focused on the science behind new medicines and the systems and people that decide whether that science ever reaches patients. You can reach Jason ...

CRISPR-Cas systems are adaptive immune systems found in prokaryotes that defend against invading nucleic acids through CRISPR RNA-guided cleavage. Type V CRISPR-Cas (Cas12) systems, in particular, ...

A graphic representation of a round, lumpy, blue protein and a single, comblike, purple strand of RNA interacting with a twisted, double, blue strand of DNA that separates where it meets the RNA. A ...

The CRISPR entry notes both its original function, as an immune defense in bacteria and archaea, and its recent adoption as a gene editing tool. The latter part of the definition raised eyebrows for ...