CRISPR/Cas: the emerging tool for insect genomic study

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats(CRISPR) system was originally discovered as acquired immunity system in numerous bacteria and archaea. Systematic analysis of CRISPR and its associated genes(CASs) revealed the crucial roles in defending external invasion of viruses and phages via RNAmediated DNA degrading. The natural CRISPR/Cas system has been remolded as the third generation artificial nuclease, which is a powerful and promising tool for targeted genome editing. Currently, CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing has been successfully applied in a increasing number of species, such as human, mice, rats, zebrafish, bacteria, fruit flies, yeast and nematodes. In this paper, we reviewed the structural basis and mechanisms of CRISPR/Cas system, and discussed the prospective application in insect genomics, to provide some technical references for insect gene function study in the future.