- The work establishes the world’s first system that uses DNA, rather than RNA, to guide CRISPR enzymes to its target.
- Instead of using RNA as a guide, the team engineered CRISPR to use DNA, which is naturally more stable and easier to produce.
- The team, in collaboration with researchers at UT Austin, also released the structure of their first DNA-guided CRISPR system in a separate preprint in March 2026.
A team of engineers at the University of Florida has developed a new form of CRISPR technology that could make diagnostics and treatments safer, more precise and more affordable, while opening the door to entirely new ways of controlling disease.
First reported in a 2024 preprint and now formally published this week in Nature Biotechnology, the work establishes the world’s first system that uses DNA, rather than RNA, to guide CRISPR enzymes to its target, overturning the long-standing paradigm.