CRISPR is best known today as a powerful gene-editing tool, but its roots are ancient. For billions of years, bacteria and other microbes have used CRISPR as a natural immune system to defend against invading viruses.
Now, scientists have uncovered what appears to be CRISPR's long-lost ancestor, according to a report from Phys.org. The discovery may expand the gene-editing toolkit by offering an earlier version of the system that could work in new ways.
Because there is only one source, there are no conflicting accounts to compare. The report suggests that studying this ancestral form could lead to new or improved editing approaches, though the specific details of how it works are not yet described in the available excerpt.