In recent years, genome editing technology has been well developed, which have major implications for basic biology research, medicine, and biotechnology. As a new member of CRISPR system, Cpf1 greatly expands the choice of target sites for genome editing and has significant advantages in multiple gene editing. In addition, its shorter RNA sequences (crRNAs) make it closer for the application via industrial direct synthesis. Here we summarized the structure, gene editing characteristics, application progress, current limitations and future prospects of Cpf1 system.