On the ever‐growing functional versatility of the <scp>CRISPR‐Cas13</scp> system
Roser Montagud‐Martínez, Rosa Márquez‐Costa, María Heras‐Hernández, Roswitha Dolcemascolo, Guillermo Rodrigo
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas systems evolved in prokaryotes to implement a powerful antiviral immune response as a result of sequence-specific targeting by ribonucleoproteins. One of such systems consists of an RNA-guided RNA endonuclease, known as CRISPR-Cas13. In very recent years, this system is being repurposed in different ways in order to decipher and engineer gene expression programmes. Here, we discuss the functional versatility of the CRISPR-Cas13 system, which includes the ability for RNA silencing, RNA editing, RNA tracking, nucleic acid detection and translation regulation. This functional palette makes the CRISPR-Cas13 system a relevant tool in the broad field of systems and synthetic biology.