Doudna team finds ancient CRISPR ancestor with unusual gapped DNA code

The discovery may also reshape ideas about where CRISPR came from. The researchers found VIPR systems in viruses that appear to use them against competing viruses, suggesting that viral competition helped shape this unusual molecular weapon. The genetic code is usually described as an orderly language, read one letter after another in precise three-letter units. But nature has never been particularly interested in following the rules humans use to describe it. Researchers at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), founded by Jennifer Doudna, have now uncovered a viral system that appears to rewrite some of those assumptions. Called VIPR, the system uses a previously unknown “gapped” coding strategy to recognise DNA, offering clues about the ancient origins of CRISPR and potentially opening another route to genome engineering. The findings were reported in two connected papers in Science in September 2026.A mystery hidden in viral RNAThe discovery began with a search for ancient relatives of Class 1 CRISPR systems, the older and more widespread branch of CRISPR biology. Unlike the better-known Cas9 system, Class 1 systems rely on several proteins working together.Researchers Peter ...