CRISPR-Cas9 technology in the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance

Abstract:

Recently, the emergence and global prevalence of many new antibiotic genes have led to a worldwide public health crisis. CRISPR-Cas9 (an adaptive immune system of bacteria) that can be used to cleave specific targets of resistant bacteria and against exogenous nucleic acid, serves a revolutionary gene editing tool to control antimicrobial resistance. Our previous study has established a plasmid-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 system targeting the mcr-1 gene, to efficiently and specifically eliminate mcr-1 gene and resensitize colistin resistant E. coli. Moreover, it is also necessary to optimize delivery methods of the CRISPR-Cas9 system for clinical treatment. This review focuses on the process of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance in recent years, including the discovery process, mechanism, delivery method, advances in the experimental results in vitro and the existing problems, to provide new insights to the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance.