A team of researchers at Stanford University have engineered a highly compact and versatile CRISPR-Cas system for mammalian genome editing and regulation, which is less than half the size of currently used CRISPR Cas9 or Cas12a systems. Strikingly though, they have levels of gene activation comparable to that of Cas12a.

The scientists believe that its diminutive size would facilitate high-efficiency transport for a wide range of genome engineering applications that require the delivery of compact Cas-fusion proteins for varied cellular functions.

In a recent report published in Molecular Cell, the researchers state that this engineered, efficient, specific, compact, versatile, and multi-purpose “mini” CRISPR-Cas system could serve as a “Swiss Army knife” in mammalian genome editing.