Abstract: tClustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is a kind of repetitive DNA structure, which is widely distributed in bacterial and archaeal genomes. The structure with leader sequence and a series of associated proteins together provide acquired immunity against phage and plasmid genes for prokaryotes. In this paper, the structure, mechanism and application of CRISPR system are summarized, the latest research progress is introduced, and the prospect of its development is prospected.

Key words: CRISPR, prokaryote, foreign gene, immune