Gene editing technology “CRISPR-Cas”, applications and challenges

Gene editing technologies have evolved remarkably from zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) to the highly efficient clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated (CRISPR-Cas) systems. The development of the CRISPR-Cas system to be simple, precision, and versatile tools have revolutionized modern molecular biology and therapeutic research. This review summarizes the recent advances in CRISPR-based applications, including gene function studies, diagnostics, ex vivo and in vivo therapies, antimicrobial resistance control, and parasite genome manipulation. The paper also highlights the major technological challenges related to editing specificity, delivery systems, and off-target effects, together with recent innovations such as base editing, prime editing, and CRISPR-mediated transcriptional modulation. Some challenges facing the CRISPR- Cas system applications haven summarized in brief. Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence has emerged as a promising tool to enhance prediction accuracy and therapeutic efficiency. Overall, this review outlines the current progress, biomedical applications, and future perspectives of CRISPR-Cas technologies in precision medicine and biotechnology.