Question 1

True or false: CRISPR technology was inspired by how bacteria store viral DNA for future defense.

Accepted Answer

True. Bacteria capture viral DNA snippets into CRISPR arrays, using them like a genetic memory to guide Cas enzymes against reinfection.

Question 2

True or false: Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for CRISPR in 2020.

Accepted Answer

True. They received the 2020 Nobel Prize for developing the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing method, a revolutionary breakthrough.

Question 3

True or false: CRISPR was first discovered as a bacterial immune system in E. coli in 1987.

Accepted Answer

True. Japanese scientist Yoshizumi Ishino first observed CRISPR repeats in E. coli, but their function wasn't understood until decades later.

Question 4

True or false: CRISPR-Cas9 was originally adapted from a fungal genome editing system.

Accepted Answer

False. CRISPR-Cas9 comes from bacteria, specifically Streptococcus pyogenes, not fungi. Fungal systems like TALENs are separate tools.

Question 5

True or false: CRISPR always creates permanent changes to the genome that cannot be reversed.

Accepted Answer

False. CRISPR can be used for temporary gene silencing (e.g., CRISPRi) or reversible edits via base editors or epigenetic modifications.

Question 6

True or false: The first CRISPR-based COVID-19 diagnostic test was approved in the U.S. in 2020.

Accepted Answer

True. Sherlock Biosciences’ CRISPR-based test received FDA emergency use authorization in May 2020 for rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Question 7

True or false: The first human CRISPR trial targeted sickle cell disease using fetal hemoglobin reactivation.

Accepted Answer

True. Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ exa-cel therapy reactivates fetal hemoglobin to treat sickle cell and beta-thalassemia, approved in 2023.

Question 8

True or false: CRISPR can only edit DNA, not RNA, in any living cell.

Accepted Answer

False. CRISPR systems like Cas13 can target and edit RNA, enabling applications like viral RNA degradation without altering DNA.

CRISPR technology development Trivia Questions