Clarifying CRISPR: Why Repeats Identified in the Human Genome Should Not Be Considered CRISPRs.

Abstract

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and their associated genes (cas) are essential components of adaptive immune systems that protect bacteria and archaea from viral infection. CRISPR-Cas systems are found in about 40% of bacterial and 85% of archaeal genomes, but not in eukaryotic genomes. Recently, an article published in Communications Biology reported the identification of 12,572 putative CRISPRs in the human genome, which they call "hCRISPR." In this study, we attempt to reproduce this analysis and show that repetitive elements identified as putative CRISPR loci in the human genome contain neither the repeat-spacer-repeat architecture nor the cas genes characteristic of functional CRISPR systems.