CRISPR stands for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats”, and allows humans to genetically modify DNA. The issue with CRISPR is that it sometimes causes unwanted side effects that may increase the chance for cancer if consumed. CRISPR/Cas9 is able to more precisely remove or replace a genetic sequence. Unlike CRISPR, CRISPR/Cas9 does not use foreign material meaning no side effects such as an increased chance for cancer.

According to CALS News, CRISPR/Cas9 allows for precise genetic deletion or replacement without inserting foreign genetic material inside of a plant making it not a genetically modified organism. With the use of CRISPR/Cas9 we are able to alter the expression made by plants to increase resistance to pests and diseases.

Plants are not the only thing that CRISPR/Cas9 can be used on according to the National Library of Medicine. The National Library of Medicine wrote that there is new possibility with the use of CRISPR/Cas9  for strains, detection of viruses, and identification of genetic mutations in circulating extracellular DNA in patients with lung cancer as well as in the development of a potentially new method of immunization aka DNA vaccines.

Though CRISPR/Cas9 has been used to cure several life threatening diseases and used in embryos, there is a debate on whether or not it is ethical to use CRISPR/Cas9 on humans. There has been a temporary prohibition of using CRISPR/Cas9 on humans.