Efficient genome editing in zebrafish using a CRISPR-Cas system

In bacteria, foreign nucleic acids are silenced by clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) CRISPR-associated (Gas) systems. Bacterial type II CRISPR systems have been adapted to create guide RNAs that direct site-specific DNA cleavage by the Cas9 endonuclease in cultured cells. Here we show that the CRISPR-Cas system functions in vivo to induce targeted genetic modifications in zebrafish embryos with efficiencies similar to those obtained using zinc finger nucleases and transcription activator like effector nucleases.