Purpose This study explores the underlying research topics regarding CRISPR based on the LDA model and figures out trends in knowledge transfer from science to technology in this area over the latest 10 years. Design/methodology/approach We collected publications on CRISPR between 2011 and 2020 from the Web of Science, and traced all the patents citing them from lens.org. 15,904 articles and 18,985 patents in total are downloaded and analyzed. The LDA model was applied to identify underlying research topics in related research. In addition, some indicators were introduced to measure the knowledge transfer from research topics of scientific publications to IPC-4 classes of patents. Findings The emerging research topics on CRISPR were identified and their evolution over time displayed. Furthermore, a big picture of knowledge transition from research topics to technological classes of patents was presented. We found that for all topics on CRISPR, the average first transition year, the ratio of articles cited by patents, the NPR transition rate are respectively 1.08, 15.57%, and 1.19, extremely shorter and more intensive than those of general fields. Moreover, the transition patterns are different among research topics. Research limitations Our research is limited to publications retrieved from the Web of Science and their citing patents indexed in lens.org. A limitation inherent with LDA analysis is in the manual interpretation and labeling of “topics”. Practical implications Our study provides good references for policy-makers on allocating scientific resources and regulating financial budgets to face challenges related to the transformative technology of CRISPR. Originality/value The LDA model here is applied to topic identification in the area of transformative researches for the first time, as exemplified on CRISPR. Additionally, the dataset of all citing patents in this area helps to provide a full picture to detect the knowledge transition between S&T.