High-throughput CRISPR approaches: New solutions for challenging problems

The CRISPR technology is a formidable tool that allows precise interrogation and manipulation of genomes, at unprecedented throughput. The CRISPR technology integrated with other high-throughput methods opens new opportunities for research and development in different areas and presents new solutions to challenges in health, agriculture, and biotechnology. CRISPR-based functional screens have helped in identifying potential drug targets for both infectious and non-infectious diseases, revealed mechanisms involved in antibiotic resistance , host-pathogen interactions, cancer progression and response to drugs. CRISPR screening has facilitated engineering of biosynthetic pathways and optimization of cell factories for pharmaceutical and biofuel production. CRISPR-based massively parallel genome editing has enabled increase in crop yield and tolerance to abiotic/biotic stresses with the consequent increase of fitness and adaptability of the crop. This review also highlights the innovative approaches integrating CRISPR and other high-throughput techniques to find new solutions to long-standing and complex problems in biological research. • An overview of the strategies and formats associated with implementation of CRISPR-based high throughput technologies is presented. • Impact of high-throughput CRISPR-based screens in transforming medical research and accelerating drug development for diseases is described. • Adaptation of CRISPR-based high-throughput methods for molecular diagnosis, crop improvement and biotechnology have been presented. • Challenges associated with CRISPR-based methods and their integration with new high-throughput technological improvements are discussed.