Francis Mojica, the Spanish Scientist Who Discovered CRISPR

Contrary to popular belief, Francis Mojica was the first person to discover the CRISPR mechanism and give it its name. He told me how the discovery came about, discussed the wide potential of the gene editing tool and shared his favorite CRISPR application. You’ve likely heard of CRISPR/Cas9, a gene editing tool that has taken the world by storm. Although it’s far from being the first tool to edit DNA, CRISPR technology makes gene editing much easier and faster than before. In the last few years, its use has become ubiquitous in labs around the world. CRISPR/Cas9 is used to speed up drug discovery and the creation of animal models to study all sorts of diseases. But the application everyone is avidly expecting and throwing money at is using CRISPR to cure human diseases. The first clinical trials have already started, and their results will reveal whether CRISPR can fulfill these big expectations.