title: The discovery of CRISPR in archaea and bacteria.
abstract: CRISPR-Cas are self-/nonself-discriminating systems found in prokaryotic cells. They represent a remarkable example of molecular memory that is hereditarily transmitted. Their discovery can be considered as one of the first fruits of the systematic exploration of prokaryotic genomes. Although this genomic feature was serendipitously discovered in molecular biology studies, it was the availability of multiple complete genomes that shed light about their role as a genetic immune system. Here we tell the story of how this discovery originated and was slowly and painstakingly advanced to the point of understating the biological role of what initially was just an odd genomic feature.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiología, Genética y Microbiología, Universidad de Alicante, Spain.|Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio 'Ramón Margalef', Universidad de Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco J M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6660-4996
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Mojica
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Genomics Group, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Valera
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems; D020745:Genome, Archaeal; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics
keywords: CRISPR; Cas; adaptive immunity; genomics; interference; prokaryote; repeat