CRISPR Cas9 mediated genome editing to induce apoptosis a new strategy to tackle cancer

CRISPR-Cas9 is a strong gene editing tool having two components, Cas9 protein and guide RNA. It involves a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) which is identified by Cas9 endonucleases to initiate double stranded break in DNA, which is repaired by either of two pathways; non-homologous end joining pathway (NHEJ) or homology-directed repair (HDR) pathway .CRISPR/Cas9 can be used to edit the genes involved in apoptosis regulation, to target oncogenes, anti-apoptotic proteins, immune checkpoints, to selectively induce cancer cell death. This review identifies CRISPR-mediated apoptotic approaches, its mechanism, preclinical trials, and issues and points to its possible application in cancer.