CRISPR was first discovered by Francisco Mojica in 1993, at the University of Alicante in Spain. Throughout the following twenty years, scientists did research on how CRISPR interacted with genes and DNA, and what its uses were. In January 2013, Feng Zhang, a researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was the first scientists to successfully use CRISPR and Cas 9 to edit genes in organisms.
The technology for CRISPR is made up of two important things: Cas 9, and guide RNA(gRNA). Cas 9 is an enzyme that can cut through DNA and sequences. It doesn't have to be paired with other enzymes that also cut through DNA and it's sequences. Instead, Cas 9 can be combined with guide RNA and be led to specific sequences to alter.
STEP 1: The scientists editing the genes look for a target sequence.
STEP 2: The guide RNA goes to its targetted DNA sequence. Its RNA bases are complementary to those of the target sequence. This means that the gRNA will only attach to its specific sequence. The two bind together.
STEP 3: The Cas 9 enzyme follows the gRNA, and goes to the target sequence. Once there, it binds with the gRNA.
STEP 4: Cas 9 cuts through the gRNA, as well as the target sequence of DNA
STEP 5: The cut in the gRNA and DNA heals, and becomes a mutation, altering the genes in the sequence.