More on CRISPR
Our most recent newsletter has an article on CRISPR, a huge breakthrough for developing gene therapies for syndromes like Bardet Biedl. Today, the New York Times has an article that explains CRISPR in more depth.
In the past year or so, researchers have discovered that the bacterial system can be harnessed to make precise changes to the DNA of humans, as well as other animals and plants.
This means a genome can be edited, much as a writer might change words or fix spelling errors. It allows “customizing the genome of any cell or any species at will,” said Charles Gersbach, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University.
It also discusses some of the challenges moving from this breakthrough to actual treatments.