RAS question
CRISPR stands for:
Correct answer: (D) Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
Explanation
CRISPR is short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Genome.gov describes CRISPR as a technology used by research scientists to selectively modify the DNA of living organisms. Its biological basis is a natural bacterial immune system against viruses, later adapted into a precise gene-editing tool. This is why option D is the only correct expansion; it names the clustered, regularly spaced short palindromic repeat sequences that give CRISPR its full form. The term is also linked to its best-known application, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, for which Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier won the 2020 Nobel Prize.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Central Repository for Integrated Sequencing and Pairing Research is wrong because CRISPR is not a repository or research organisation; its expansion refers to clustered short palindromic repeats.
- (B) Computerized Regulation of Immune System Protein Receptors is wrong because CRISPR is not a computerised receptor-regulation system; it is associated with bacterial immunity and DNA modification.
- (C) Controlled Replication of Inserted Sequences in Paired Regions is wrong because the accepted expansion does not mention controlled replication or inserted paired regions; it is Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
Concept
This tests biotechnology terminology under Science and Technology, especially gene editing and its biological origin. RAS repeats such terms because they connect current science, Nobel-recognised discoveries and applied technology in one compact fact.