CRISPR–Cas adaptive immune systems are widespread among bacteria and archaea. Recent studies have shown that these systems have minimal long-term evolutionary effects in limiting horizontal gene transfer. This suggests that the ability to evade CRISPR–Cas immunity must also be widespread in phages and other mobile genetic elements. In this Progress article, we discuss recent discoveries that highlight how phages inactivate CRISPR–Cas systems by using anti-CRISPR proteins, and we outline evolutionary and biotechnological implications of their activity.

中文翻译：

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抗CRISPR：发现，机制和功能

CRISPR-Cas适应性免疫系统广泛存在于细菌和古细菌中。最近的研究表明，这些系统在限制水平基因转移方面具有最小的长期进化作用。这表明逃避CRISPR-Cas免疫的能力也必须在噬菌体和其他移动遗传元件中广泛传播。在本文中，我们讨论了最近的发现，这些发现突出了噬菌体如何通过使用抗CRISPR蛋白使CRISPR-Cas系统失活的方法，并概述了其活性的进化和生物技术意义。