In the past, researchers have attempted to do this with
gene editing tools like zinc fingers nucleases, but the process was too labor - intensive to be used on a large scale.
A second area challenges teams who receive funding from Safe Genes to design systems for controlling and reversing
gene editing tools like CRISPR — Cas9.
Not exact matches
Thanks to CRISPR
gene -
editing tools, researchers can tweak the rat genome to create so - called transgenic animals with human -
like disease traits.
For these errors, correction with a
gene -
editing tool like CRISPR makes more sense, De Luca says.
Lead researcher Dr Gabriella Ficz from QMUL's Barts Cancer Institute said: «It's surprising that cells from several healthy individuals are so permissive to gaining this epigenetic change and that one «hit» from an epigenetic
editing tool is sufficient to set off this chain reaction of epigenetic inheritance and establish a cancer cell -
like gene expression signature.»
Cas12a, discovered in 2015 and originally called Cpf1, is
like the well - known Cas9 protein that UC Berkeley's Jennifer Doudna and colleague Emmanuelle Charpentier turned into a powerful
gene -
editing tool in 2012.
The variety of new
tools available for genetic manipulation now include lentiviral - based
gene delivery, and
gene editing using CRISPR / Cas9, zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) or transcription activator -
like effector nucleases (TALENs).
Her game - changing technology takes a mysterious bacterial genetic code and transforms it into a powerful
tool for cutting and pasting bits of genetic material — meaning not only could the entire field of
gene therapy be revived, but her genome -
editing tool could one day be used to treat a range of diseases, from cancer and AIDS to hereditary disorders
like Down syndrome and Huntington disease.