Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Advanced Pharmaceutical Bulletin 2228-5881 8 4 2018 11 29 The Impact of CRISPR-Cas System on Antiviral Therapy 591 597 10.15171/apb.2018.067 EN Hadi Bayat https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4069-3529 Fatemeh Naderi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4093-6041 Amjad Hayat Khan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3656-5727 Arash Memarnejadian https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4005-8787 Azam Rahimpour https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3296-5881 Journal Article 10.15171/apb.2018.067 2018 01 17 2018 09 29 Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein nuclease (Cas) is identified as an adaptive immune system in archaea and bacteria. Type II of this system, CRISPR-Cas9, is the most versatile form that has enabled facile and efficient targeted genome editing. Viral infections have serious impacts on global health and conventional antiviral therapies have not yielded a successful solution hitherto. The CRISPR-Cas9 system represents a promising tool for eliminating viral infections. In this review, we highlight 1) the recent progress of CRISPR-Cas technology in decoding and diagnosis of viral outbreaks, 2) its applications to eliminate viral infections in both pre-integration and provirus stages, and 3) various delivery systems that are employed to introduce the platform into target cells.