Abstract View

Author(s): Mohd Uzair1, Shabnam Ain*2, Qurratul Ain3, Babita Kumar4, Vipin Kumar5, Sneha Pandey6, Ajeet and Cutee7

Email(s): 1shabnam.ain@sanskar.org

Address:

    Sanskar College of Pharmacy and Research, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Published In:   Volume - 5,      Issue - 2,     Year - 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71431/IJRPAS.2026.5206  

 View HTML        View PDF

Please allow Pop-Up for this website to view PDF file.

ABSTRACT:
The CRISPR-Cas system has revolutionized genetic engineering by offering precise genome editing with unparalleled accuracy. Its integration into targeted drug delivery and gene therapy represents a transformative approach for treating genetic disorders, cancers, and infectious diseases. Originally identified as part of a bacterial immune defense mechanism, CRISPR-Cas has evolved into a versatile tool for site-specific genome editing, enabling correction of disease-causing mutations with minimal off-target effects. In drug delivery, CRISPR-based platforms are being engineered to direct therapeutic agents specifically to diseased tissues or cells, thereby reducing systemic toxicity while enhancing efficacy. Advanced carriers such as nanoparticles, liposomes, and viral and non-viral vectors are under exploration to improve the efficiency and precision of CRISPR component delivery. In the realm of gene therapy, CRISPR technologies show significant promise for treating conditions such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and various malignancies by rewriting defective genes or introducing protective modifications within the genome. Despite this promise, challenges such as delivery limitations, immunogenicity, and ethical concerns, particularly regarding germline editing, remain critical. Regulatory frameworks are evolving to ensure safe clinical translation. Overall, crispr-cas technologies are expected to play a pivotal role in advancing personalized medicine, offering hope for conditions once considered untreatable. This review highlights recent breakthroughs, evaluates delivery strategies, and discusses future directions toward safe and effective clinical application

Cite this article:
Mohd Uzair, Shabnam Ain, Qurratul Ain, Babita Kumar, Vipin Kumar, Sneha Pandey, Ajeet and Cutee. CRISPR-Cas Systems in Targeted Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy: An Emerging Approach to Precision Medicine. IJRPAS, February 2026; 5(2): 66-87.DOI: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.71431/IJRPAS.2026.5206


1.      Doudna J.A., Charpentier E. (2014). The new frontier of genome engineering with CRISPR-Cas9. Science, 346(6213), 1258096. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1258096

2.      Hsu P.D., Lander E.S., Zhang F. (2014). Development and applications of CRISPR-Cas9 for genome engineering. Cell, 157(6), 1262–1278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.05.010

3.      Wang H., Yang H., Shivalila C.S., et al. (2013). One-step generation of mice carrying mutations in multiple genes by CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome engineering. Cell, 153(4), 910–918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.04.025

4.      Zhang F., Wen Y., Guo X. (2014). CRISPR/Cas9 for genome editing: progress, implications and challenges. Human Molecular Genetics, 23(R1), R40–R46. https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddu125

5.      Barrangou R., Doudna J.A. (2016). Applications of CRISPR technologies in research and beyond. Nature Biotechnology, 34(9), 933–941. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3659

6.      Wang P., Zhang L., Zheng W., Cong L., Guo Z. (2018). CRISPR/Cas9 in targeted drug delivery: current status and future challenges. Drug Delivery, 25(1), 1046–1053. https://doi.org/10.1080/10717544.2018.1465419

7.      Kulcsár P.I., Táas A., Huszár K., et al. (2017). Crossing enhanced and high-fidelity SpCas9 nucleases to optimize specificity and cleavage. Genome Biology, 18(1), 190. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1328-9

8.      Xu C.E., Chen G.J., Luo Y.L., et al. (2019). Advances in nucleic acid delivery systems for CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing. Small, 15(46), e1901983. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201901983

9.      Lino C.A., Harper J.C., Carney J.P., Timlin J.A. (2018). Delivering CRISPR: a review of the challenges and approaches. Drug Delivery, 25(1), 1234–1257. https://doi.org/10.1080/10717544.2018.1474964

10.  Wang M., Zuris J.A., Meng F., et al. (2016). Efficient delivery of genome-editing proteins using bioreducible lipid nanoparticles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 113(11), 2868–2873. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1520244113

11.  Mout R., Ray M., Yesilbag Tonga G., et al. (2017). Direct cytosolic delivery of CRISPR/Cas9-ribonucleoprotein for efficient gene editing. ACS Nano, 11(3), 2452–2458. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b07600

12.  Chen G., Abdeen A.A., Wang Y., et al. (2019). A biodegradable nanocapsule delivers a Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex for in vivo genome editing. Nature Nanotechnology, 14(10), 974–980. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0544-8

13.  Wang H.X., Li M., Lee C.M., et al. (2017). CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing for disease modeling and therapy: challenges and opportunities for nonviral delivery. Chemical Reviews, 117(15), 9874–9906. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00799

14.  Yin H., Song C.Q., Suresh S., et al. (2016). Partial DNA-guided Cas9 enables targeted nanoparticle delivery to tumor cells. Nature Nanotechnology, 11(7), 642–650. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.67

15.  Ledford H. (2015). CRISPR, the disruptor. Nature, 522(7554), 20–24. https://doi.org/10.1038/522020a

16.  Lee K., Conboy M., Park H.M., et al. (2017). Nanoparticle delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein and donor DNA in vivo induces homology-directed DNA repair. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 1(11), 889–901. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-017-0137-2

17.  Wang P., Zhang L., Zheng W., Cong L., Guo Z. (2021). Nanocarriers for CRISPR delivery: design and challenges. Chemical Reviews, 121(18), 10431–10457. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c01220

18.  Liu J., Chang J., Jiang Y., et al. (2019). Fast and efficient CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in vivo enabled by bioreducible lipid nanoparticles. Biomaterials, 208, 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.04.022

19.  Gao X., Tao Y., Lamas V., et al. (2018). Treatment of autosomal dominant hearing loss by in vivo delivery of genome editing agents. Nature, 553(7687), 217–221. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25164

20.  Finn J.D., Smith A.R., Patel M.C., et al. (2018). A single administration of CRISPR/Cas9 lipid nanoparticles achieves robust and persistent in vivo genome editing. Cell Reports, 22(9), 2227–2235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2018.02.014

21.  Zuris J.A., Thompson D.B., Shu Y., et al. (2015). Cationic lipid-mediated delivery of proteins enables efficient protein-based genome editing in vitro and in vivo. Nature Biotechnology, 33(1), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3081

22.  Glass Z., Lee M., Li Y., Xu Q. (2018). Engineering the delivery system for CRISPR-based genome editing. Trends in Biotechnology, 36(2), 173–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.11.006

23.  Zhang Y., Chen M., Dai C., et al. (2021). CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system in human stem cells: current status and future perspectives. Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids, 23, 218–231.

24.  Qi L.S., Larson M.H., Gilbert L.A., et al. (2013). Repurposing CRISPR as an RNA-guided platform for sequence-specific control of gene expression. Cell, 152(5), 1173–1183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.02.022

25.  Lin S., Staahl B.T., Alla R.K., Doudna J.A. (2014). Enhanced homology-directed human genome engineering by controlled timing of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery. eLife, 3, e04766. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04766

26.  Manghwar H., Lindsey K., Zhang X., Jin S. (2019). CRISPR/Cas system: recent advances and future prospects for genome editing. Trends in Plant Science, 24(12), 1102–1125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2019.09.006

27.  Jinek M., Chylinski K., Fonfara I., et al. (2012). A programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity. Science, 337(6096), 816–821. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1225829

28.  Koo T., Kim J.S. (2016). Therapeutic applications of CRISPR RNA-guided genome editing. Briefings in Functional Genomics, 15(4), 229–239. https://doi.org/10.1093/bfgp/elv053

29.  Maeder M.L., Gersbach C.A. (2016). Genome-editing technologies for gene and cell therapy. Molecular Therapy, 24(3), 430–446. https://doi.org/10.1038/mt.2016.10

30.  Bak R.O., Porteus M.H. (2017). CRISPR-mediated integration of large gene cassettes using AAV donor vectors. Cell Reports, 20(3), 750–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2017.06.064

31.  Xu X., Gao Y.D., Zhang W., et al. (2021). Non-viral delivery systems for CRISPR-based genome editing: challenges and opportunities. Biomaterials, 276, 121052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121052

32.  Lyu Y., Lou Y., Pang X., et al. (2023). Nanoformulations for CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing: clinical translation perspectives. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, 13(2), 495–519.

33.  Kim H., Kim J.S. (2014). A guide to genome engineering with programmable nucleases. Nature Reviews Genetics, 15(5), 321–334. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3686

34.  Yin H., Kauffman K.J., Anderson D.G. (2017). Delivery technologies for genome editing. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 16(6), 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2016.280

35.  Nelson C.E., Gersbach C.A. (2016). Engineering delivery vehicles for genome editing. Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 7, 637–662. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-080615-034711

36.  Kleinstiver B.P., Pattanayak V., Prew M.S., et al. (2016). High-fidelity CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases with no detectable genome-wide off-target effects. Nature, 529(7587), 490–495. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16526

37.  Cong L., Ran F.A., Cox D., et al. (2013). Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems. Science, 339(6121), 819–823. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1231143

38.  Wu W., Zeng Z., Deng R., Wang Q. (2021). Delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 for gene editing in cancer therapy: progress and challenges. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 19(1), 1–22.

39.  Li L., Hu Y., Xie H., et al. (2020). Recent advances in non-viral vectors for gene delivery. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 5(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-020-00283-2

40.  Ramakrishna S., Kwaku Dad A.B., Beloor J., et al. (2014). Gene disruption by cell-penetrating peptide-mediated delivery of Cas9 protein and guide RNA. Genome Research, 24(6), 1020–1027. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.171264.113

41.  Pandey S., Kumar V., Ain S., Ain Q., Kumar B., Ruhela N., Bhuvnesh (2025). Alzheimer’s Disease:An Overview. International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Allied Science, 4(2):13–32. https://doi.org/10.71431/IJRPAS.2025.4202

42.  György B., Lööv C., Zaborowski M.P., et al. (2018). CRISPR/Cas9 mediated disruption of the Swedish APP allele as a therapeutic approach for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids, 11:429–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtn.2018.03.008

43.  Sun J., Roy S. (2021). Gene-based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Nature Neuroscience, 24(3):297–311. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-020-00780-6

44.  Kantor B., Tagliafierro L., Gu J., et al. (2018). Downregulation of SNCA expression by targeted CRISPR interference in Parkinson’s disease models. Molecular Therapy, 26(5):1201–1212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.02.014

45.  Ruhela N., Kumar V., Ain S., Ain Q., Pandey S., Tyagi V., Kumar B. (2025). Fava beans: An Ancient Tool to Manage Parkinson’s Disease. International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Allied Science, 4(5):13–25. https://doi.org/10.71431/IJRPAS.2025.4502

46.  Ain S., Mishra G., Kumar B., Ain Q., Garg R.K. (2022). Antidiabetic Potential of Developed Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Loaded with Quercetin: in-vitro and in-silico Studies. Annals of Phytomedicine, 11(2):1-11. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.54085/ap.2022.11.2.89

47.  Pankaj, Ain S., Kumar B., Ain Q. (2023). Development and Evaluation of Doxorubicin Hydroxide Loaded Liposomes. Indo American Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 10(10):222-236.

Related Images:



Recent Images



Green Synthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles from Mimusops elengi Flowers: UV Characterization and Antidiabetic Potential
From Mist to Medicine: Wound healing Revolution with Liquid Sprays
Development and Evaluation of Monoherbal Fast Dissolving Oral Film (FDOF) From The Root Extract of Achyranthes aspera Linn for the Treatment of Snake Bites
Plastic Blood: Synthetic Blood Substitutes in Emergency Medicine for Patient Transfusion
Multi-Model AI-Assisted Early Detection of Oral Cancer Integrated With Phytochemical Profiling, Antioxidant , And In-Silico Target Evaluation of Boerhavia diffusa Linn
Assessment of Amplitude of Accommodation (A.A)   Among HIV Subjects Taking Antiretroviral Drugs (ARV)
A Systematic Review of Botany, Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Different Alstonia Species
CRISPR-Cas Systems in Targeted Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy: An Emerging Approach to Precision Medicine
Evaluation of In-vitro Anti-diabetic activity in Ethanolic Stem Extract of Euphobia hirta
Evolving Landscape of Medical Device Vigilance in India: Current Status and Future Directions of MvPI

Tags