Crisflash: Open-source software to generate CRISPR guide RNAs against genomes annotated with individual variation

Abstract

CRISPR/Cas9 system requires short guide RNAs (sgRNAs) to direct genome modification. Most currently available tools for sgRNA design operate only with standard reference genomes, and are best suited for small-scale projects. To address these limitations, we developed Crisflash, a software tool for fast sgRNA design and potential off-target discovery, built for performance and flexibility. Crisflash can rapidly design CRISPR guides against any sequenced genome or genome sequences, and can optimize guide accuracy by incorporating user-supplied variant data. Crisflash is over an order of magnitude faster than comparable tools, even using a single CPU core, and efficiently and robustly scores the potential off-targeting of all possible candidate CRISPR guide oligonucleotides.