SHANGHAI – Asia's contender in the CRISPR patent battle is now a step closer to seeing global IP claims validated. Toolgen Inc., of Seoul, South Korea, had two patent applications granted by the Korea Intellectual Property Office covering genome editing using the CRISPR platform. The two Korea patents cover fundamental claims for CRISPR/Cas-9-based genome editing in eukaryotic cells. Also included are claims covering modifications for improved specificity of CRISPR/Cas9 nucleases. The stakes are high for whoever succeeds in nailing down the patent for CRISPR – a new technology that many consider the most promising scientific and ethically troubling discovery of the past century.