https://phys.org/news/2018-07-crispr-tools-ways-disease.html > These versatile tools are helping to untangle the complex genetics underlying diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. They could identify new targets for drug development or point the way for gene therapies that could one day target genetic defects related to blindness or obesity. > The basis of these new techniques, known as CRISPR-dCas9, was invented in 2013 by UC San Francisco researchers Jonathan Weissman, Ph.D.; Stanley Qi, Ph.D. (now at Stanford University); and Wendell Lim, Ph.D.