Los Angeles, Feb. 13 -- CRISPR/Cas systems have advanced tremendously during the last decade. These precise genome editing technologies have numerous uses, spanning from transgenic crop production to gene therapy and beyond.

Researchers from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) have just developed CRISPR-COPIES, which significantly improves CRISPR's versatility and ease of usage.

"CRISPR-COPIES is a tool that can quickly identify appropriate chromosomal integration sites for genetic engineering in any organism," said Huimin Zhao, CABBI Conversion Theme Leader and Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) at the University of Illinois.

"It will accelerate our work in the metab...