Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

Extending guide RNA length restores high-fidelity CRISPR–Cas9 activity

High-fidelity CRISPR–Cas9 enzymes have fewer off-targets but often suffer from low editing efficiency. Here, we show that a simple extension of the guide RNA improves the activity of SuperFi-Cas9 while preserving its accuracy. This extension enhances SuperFi-Cas9’s genome editing performance by strengthening the interactions in the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)-distal region.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Extended sgRNA restores SuperFi-Cas9 activity.

References

  1. Fineran, P. et al. Degenerate target sites mediate rapid primed CRISPR adaptation. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, E1629–E1638 (2014). This paper reports how bacteria CRISPR became adapted for recognizing degenerate target sites in an evolutionary arms race with foreign elements.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Chen, J. et al. Enhanced proofreading governs CRISPR–Cas9 targeting accuracy. Nature 550, 407–410 (2017). This paper reports the balance between target recognition and nuclease activation for precise genome editing with high-fidelity Cas9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Bravo, J. P. K. et al. Structural basis for mismatch surveillance by CRISPR–Cas9. Nature 603, 343–347 (2022). This paper describes the structure-guided rational design of SuperFi-Cas9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Zheng, R. et al. Improving the efficiency of high-fidelity Cas9 by enhancing PAM-distal interactions. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-026-01753-3 (2026).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Extending guide RNA length restores high-fidelity CRISPR–Cas9 activity. Nat Struct Mol Biol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-026-01765-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-026-01765-z

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing