Turning genes on and off is like flipping a light switch, controlling whether genes in a cell are active. When a gene is turned on, the production of proteins or other substances is promoted; when it's turned off, production is suppressed. Korean researchers have gone beyond the limitations of existing CRISPR technology, which focused primarily on "off" functions, by developing the world's first innovative system that can simultaneously turn genes on and off, opening a new paradigm for the synthetic biology-based bio-industry.