On Aug. 9, 1993, Francisco Mojica published “Transcription at different salinities of Haloferax mediterranei sequences adjacent to partially modified PstI sites” in Molecular Biology. Mojica recognized that what had been reported as disparate repeat sequences actually shared a common set of features, now known to be hallmarks of CRISPR sequences.

Mojica coined the term CRISPR through correspondence with Ruud Jansen, who first used the term in print in 2002: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR). CRISPR and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) technique is being utilized to edit any DNA mutations associated with hereditary diseases to study in cells.  In 2023, the world’s first CRISPR therapy was approved by regulators to treat patients with sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.