CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing May Select for Cells With Cancer-Related Mutations
        
            By Sophia Ktori, 
                Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
             | 11. 12. 2021
        
                    
                                    
                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                            
                              
    
  
  
    
  
          
  
      
    
            A comprehensive study headed by researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys has shown that gene editing—specifically gene knockout (KO)—using CRISPR-Cas9 technology can favor cells with mutated forms of p53 or KRAS genes linked to cancer. The researchers say the findings highlight the need to monitor patients undergoing CRISPR-Cas9-based gene therapy for cancer-related mutations.
“Our study shows that in many different cell types, CRISPR gene-editing can confer a selective advantage to cells harboring mutations in genes associated with cancer, such as p53 and KRAS,” said co-senior author Ani Deshpande, PhD, an assistant professor in the NCI-Designated Cancer Center at Sanford Burnham Prebys. “We have shown that when CRISPR-Cas9 is used to edit the genome, cells with cancer-associated mutations are likely to be selected to survive—and this is more widespread than scientists previously understood.”
Deshpande and colleagues reported on their studies in Nature Communications, in a paper titled, “A systematic genome-wide mapping of oncogenic mutation selection during CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing.”
CRISPR-Cas9 works by creating double-stranded DNA breaks at specific points in a DNA sequence, allowing scientists to target and edit...
 
       
 
  
 
    
    
  
   
                        
                                                                                
                 
                                                    
                            
                                  
    
  
  
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