USPTO granted U.S. Patent No. 10,337,029 to the UC team, covering methods of cleaving, modifying, targeting, and binding DNA using CRISPR protein-RNA complexes.
On July 2, 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 10,337,029 to the University of California team, adding another critical piece to the CRISPR-Cas9 patent portfolio stemming from Jennifer Doudna's foundational discoveries.
This patent covered methods for cleaving, modifying, targeting, and binding DNA within a cell using a CRISPR protein-RNA complex — core mechanistic claims describing how the Cas9 enzyme, guided by a single RNA molecule, locates and interacts with specific DNA sequences to perform precise genetic edits.
The breadth of this patent's claims reflected the fundamental nature of Doudna and Charpentier's original 2012 scientific breakthrough: demonstrating that Cas9 could be reprogrammed with a synthetic guide RNA to target essentially any DNA sequence, a discovery that transformed CRISPR from a component of bacterial immune systems into the most versatile gene-editing tool in molecular biology's history.
Grants like this one throughout 2019 solidified the University of California's position as a central player in licensing CRISPR technology to biotechnology companies, academic institutions, and pharmaceutical developers worldwide, generating substantial resources to support continued research and the commercialization of CRISPR-based therapeutics.