Illustration of a CRISPR?hip biosensor. This device is made up of thousands of CRISPR-Cas9 molecules (one at centre) on a graphene field-effect transistor (hexagonal). CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing molecule that identifies and cuts a specific DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequence. The CRISPR-Cas9 molecules on the CRISPR-Chip use a 'dead' Cas-9 protein and so find the target DNA sequence, but do not cut it. When the molecule finds and binds to the target sequence it creates an electrical charge on the graphene sheet that can be detected. This system is able to search whole genome samples for the target DNA sequence without the need to amplify the sample.