CRISPR Timeline

By Public Affairs

The research team led by University of California, Berkeley, professor Jennifer Doudna and Umea University professor Emmanuelle Charpentier, formerly of the University of Vienna, was the first to identify, disclose, file a patent application for and publish the key components of the CRISPR-Cas9 system needed to edit DNA, the code of life, in bacteria, plant, animal and human cells as well as in test tubes.

  • March 2011
    • Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier begin collaboration to understand the bacterial CRISPR system.
  • May 25, 2012
    • UC FIRST TO FILE.
      • Doudna, Charpentier, Martin Jinek of UC Berkeley and Krzystof Chylinski of the University of Vienna file first patent application for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in all environments, including bacteria, plant, animal and human cells.
  • June 28, 2012
    • UC FIRST TO PUBLISH.
      • The Doudna-Charpentier team publishes the first scientific article detailing their gene-editing discovery (Science).
  • Roughly 6 Months Later
    • Six separate research teams, including Doudna’s, publish the first use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in living cells, specifically human and animal cells.
  • December 12, 2012
    • The Broad Institute, a collaboration between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, files a patent application for the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in plants, animals and human cells (eukaryotes).
  • April 15, 2014
    • The Broad Institute receives the first patent for CRISPR-Cas9, specific to plant and animal cells.
  • January 11, 2016
    • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announces interference proceeding to determine whether several of the Broad’s patents (later also adding a pending Broad application) interferes with UC’s foundational patent application.
  • February 15, 2017
    • Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finds that Broad’s patent claims do not interfere with UC’s patent claims. The PTAB did not reach a decision as to who was first to invent the use of CRISPR in plant and animal cells.
  • May 10, 2017
    • UC GRANTED FIRST EU PATENT EP2800811
      • European Patent Office (EPO) grants UC team the first CRISPR-Cas9 patent in the European Union (EU), encompassing more than 35 countries. The patent covers uses of CRISPR-Cas9 in plants, animals and human cells (eukaryotes).
  • July 25, 2017
    • UC appeals PTAB decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
  • February 28, 2018
    • UC GRANTED EU PATENT EP3241902
      • EPO grants UC team patent covering methods and compositions for RNA-directed target DNA modification and RNA-directed modulation of transcription in cellular and non-cellular settings.
  • June 19, 2018
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,000,772
      • USPTO grants UC team its first patent on CRISPR-Cas9, covering use of a version of the gene-editing tool that is more easily employed inside any type of plant or animal cell or outside a cell.
  • September 10, 2018
    • US Court of Appeals affirms the USPTO, concluding that the Broad Institute patent for use of CRISPR-Cas9 in plant and animal cells is separately patentable from UC’s invention of the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in any environment.
  • October 30, 2018
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,113,167
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team covering unique RNA guides that act like precision-targeted gene-editing scissors when combined with the Cas9 protein.
  • March 12, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,227,611
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team covering CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology using single-molecule guide RNAs and its applications in any cell.
  • April 3, 2019
    • UC GRANTED EU PATENT EP3401400
      • EPO grants UC team patent covering methods and compositions for RNA-directed target DNA modification and RNA-directed modulation of transcription in eukaryotic cells.
  • April 17, 2019
    • USPTO issues notice of allowance for patent application (U.S. 16/201,848) covering methods of cleaving, modifying or targeting and binding a target DNA in a cell using a CRISPR protein-RNA complex. The application is scheduled to issue as U.S. Patent No. 10,337,029 on July 2, 2019.
  • April 23, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,266,850
      • USPTO grants patent, originally involved in prior terminated interference proceeding, to UC team covering CRISPR methods and systems that use single-molecule guide RNAs in any environment.
  • May 20, 2019
    • USPTO issues notice of allowance for patent application (U.S. 16/201,853) covering CRISPR methods for targeting and binding, modifying or cleaving a target DNA with a Cas9 protein that contains a mutation in a RuvC and/or HNH domain and a single-molecule guide RNA.
  • May 21, 2019
    • USPTO issues notice of allowance for patent application (U.S. 16/201,836) covering CRISPR methods for targeting and binding, modifying or cleaving a target DNA using single-molecule guide RNAs.
  • May 22, 2019
    • USPTO issues notice of allowance for patent application (U.S. 16/201,855) covering methods of producing a genetically modified cell through the introduction of the Cas9 protein or a nucleic acid encoding the Cas9 protein and a single molecule DNA-targeting RNA or a nucleic acid encoding the DNA-targeting RNA.
  • May 28, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,301,651
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team related to CRISPR methods that enable sequence-specific repression or activation of gene expression in all types of cells.
  • June 4, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,308,961
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team covering CRISPR methods of targeting and binding a target DNA, modifying a target DNA or modulating transcription from a target DNA in a cell. The claims encompass both single guide RNAs and dual guide RNAs.
  • June 12, 2019
    • USPTO issues notice of allowance for patent application (U.S. 15/435,233) covering single-molecule guide RNAs or nucleic acid molecules encoding the guide RNAs.
  • June 12, 2019
    • USPTO issues notice of allowance for patent application (U.S. 15/925,544) covering nucleic acid molecules encoding single-molecule guide RNAs or compositions comprising single-molecule guide RNAs or nucleic acid molecules encoding single-molecule guide RNAs.
  • June 25, 2019
    • PTAB declares interference between 10 UC CRISPR patents and 13 Broad patents and one Broad patent application.
  • July 2, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,337,029
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team covering methods of cleaving, modifying or targeting and binding DNA in a cell using a CRISPR protein-RNA complex.
  • July 16, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,351,878
      • USPTO grants 9th patent to UC team, covering methods of producing a genetically modified cell through the introduction of the Cas9 protein, or a nucleic acid encoding the Cas9 protein, as well as a single molecule DNA-targeting RNA.
  • July 23, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENTS 10,358,658 & 10,358,659
      • USPTO grants two patents to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 10. The first is for targeting and binding, modifying or cleaving a target DNA using single-molecule guide RNAs. The second covers CRISPR methods for targeting and binding, modifying or cleaving a target DNA with a Cas9 protein that contains a mutation in a RuvC and/or HNH domain — two key parts of the Cas9 enzyme — and a single-molecule guide RNA.
  • August 20, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,385,360
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 11. The patent covers nucleic acid molecules encoding single-molecule guide RNAs, as well as CRISPR-Cas9 compositions comprising single-molecule guide RNAs or nucleic acid molecules encoding single-molecule guide RNAs.
  • September 3, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,400,253
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 12. The patent covers compositions of single-molecule, DNA-targeting RNA (single-guide RNA, or sgRNA) and a Cas9 protein or nucleic acid encoding the Cas9 protein.
  • September 10, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,407,697
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 13. The patent covers single-molecule guide RNAs or nucleic acid molecules encoding the guide RNAs..
  • September 17, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,415,061
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 14. The patent covers compositions comprising single-molecule DNA-targeting RNAs or nucleic acids encoding single-molecule DNA-targeting RNAs, as well as methods of targeting and binding a target DNA, modifying a target DNA or modulating transcription from a target DNA with a complex that comprises a Cas9 protein and single-molecule DNA-targeting RNA.
  • September 24, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,421,980
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 15. The patent covers certain DNA-targeting RNAs that contain RNA duplexes of defined lengths that hybridize with Cas9 and target a desired DNA sequence. The patent also covers methods of targeting and binding a target DNA, modifying a target DNA, or modulating transcription from a target DNA wherein the method comprises contacting a target DNA with a complex that includes a Cas9 protein and a DNA-targeting RNA.
  • October 1, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,428,352
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 16, the largest CRISPR-Cas9 patent portfolio in the country. The patent covers methods of targeting and binding or methods of cleaving a target DNA in a prokaryotic cell using Cas9 protein and single molecule DNA targeting RNAs. This patent specifically covers these methods in bacterial cells.
  • October 15, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,443,076
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 17. The patent covers methods and compositions for RNA-directed target DNA modification and for RNA-directed modulation of transcription.
  • November 26, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,487,341
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 18. The patent covers composition and kits with Cas9 with a mutation in the RuvC and/or HNH domain, and single molecule DNA-targeting RNA.
  • December 24, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,513,712
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 19. The patent covers compositions and kits with Cas9 and DNA-targeting RNA.
  • December 31, 2019
    • UC GRANTED U.S. PATENT 10,519,467
      • USPTO grants patent to UC team, bringing total portfolio to 20. The patent covers methods of producing a genetically modified cell.