Functionally diverse type V CRISPR-Cas systems

Additional, diverse CRISPR systems CRISPR systems have been revolutionizing molecular biology. Mining the metagenomic database, Yan et al. systematically discovered additional subtypes of type V CRISPR-Cas systems. The additional Cas12 effectors displayed a range of activities, including target and collateral cleavage of single-stranded RNA and DNA, as well as double-stranded DNA nicking and cleavage. These diverse nuclease activities suggest how an ancient transposase may have evolved into various type V effectors and expand the nucleic acid detection and genome-editing toolbox. Science , this issue p. 88