Abstract
As CRISPR/Cas systems have been refined over time, there has been an effort to apply them to real world problems, such as developing sequence-targeted antiviral therapies. Viruses pose a major threat to humans and new tools are urgently needed to combat these rapidly mutating pathogens. Importantly, a variety of CRISPR systems have the potential to directly cleave DNA and RNA viral genomes, in a targeted and easily-adaptable manner, thus preventing or treating infections. This perspective article highlights recent studies using different Cas effectors against various RNA viruses causing acute infections in humans; a latent virus (HIV-1); a chronic virus (hepatitis B); and viruses infecting livestock and animal species of industrial importance. The outlook and remaining challenges are discussed, particularly in the context of tacking newly emerging viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2.
Highlights
The current COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the power of emerging viruses and the need for new antiviral treatments
A relatively small cohort was used, the results demonstrate real progress towards the goal of eliminating HIV-1 reservoirs in human patients to offer a permanent cure, and funding has been secured for phase 1/2 clinical trials
This study suggests that the creation of germline transgenic chickens containing the CRISPR/Cas13a antiviral transgene might protect the poultry industry from highly pathogenic influenza strains
Summary
The current COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the power of emerging viruses and the need for new antiviral treatments. This article considers the different contexts in which CRISPR/Cas could be developed to directly target viruses, and the feasibility of each, as opposed to approaches that modify the host genome (for a review of those, see: (Chen et al, 2018)). Such novel strategies are sorely needed to fight the many serious viral infections that are of global public health concern. These infections often lack effective treatments or are showing resistance to existing antiviral drugs. This exciting field of research is still in its preclinical stages, it holds great promise to defend us against viruses, one of which—SARS-CoV-2—is currently causing devastating effects worldwide (Hu et al, 2021)
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