Engineered FnCas9 variants are provided that have an enhanced kinetic activity and a broader PAM recognition. The protein engineering methodology introduced specific mutations that stabilized interaction between Cas9 enzyme and target DNA. The enhanced kinetic activity increases NHEJ-mediated editing, owing to more efficient DSB generation potential than WT FnCas9, and the broadened PAM specificity increases the target range of FnCas9 variants. Thus, the scope and accessibility of CRISPR-Cas9 system targets are widened, along with generating robust and highly specific engineered FnCas9 variants.