French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier discovered that the CRISPR system in Streptococcus pyogenes has three main components: tracrRNA, CRISPR RNA, and the Cas9 protein. This organization was much simpler than had been anticipated by researchers. Earlier, while working at the University of Vienna, Charpentier had also found a regulatory RNA molecule that controls virulence factors in S. pyogenes bacteria. This work led her to investigate the mechanism by which the bacterial CRISPR system helps defend against viruses.
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