Biosafety materials: Ushering in a new era of infectious disease diagnosis and treatment with the CRISPR/Cas system

•CRISPR/Cas systems open up a unique avenue for infectious disease treatment and diagnosis.•Biosafety materials have obvious advantages over viral vectors and are urgently needed for in vivo CRISPR/Cas system delivery.•Biosafety materials need to be reasonably designed to enable CRISPR/Cas system to enhance precise gene regulation and move forward in clinical research and application.