Major CRISPR errors were discovered by chance
By Katherine Lindemann,
Research Gate
| 07. 23. 2018
A study released last week suggests that the gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 may not be as precise as previously thought. Researchers found that in addition to small errors already known to be part of the gene editing process, CRISPR-Cas9 can cause large deletions and even rearrangements in genes around the target site.
The researchers looked at errors in mouse and human cells in lab conditions. In some cases, deletions were as large as several thousand DNA bases, enough to potentially alter the function of a cell. Whether the findings will affect CRISPR’s utility for clinical applications is not yet known. But researchers do expect increased scrutiny of the technology, and the scope of gene editing errors, going forward.
We spoke with one of the study’s authors, Michael Kosicki, to learn more about the discovery and its implications.
ResearchGate: What motivated this study?
Michael Kosicki: It was really serendipity. A control experiment for another study gave an unexpected result, and we decided to investigate. Initial results made it clear we were looking at something very exciting indeed, with implications for...
Related Articles
By Tristan Manalac, BioSpace | 04.02.2024
Verve Therapeutics has suspended enrollment in the Phase Ib Heart-1 study evaluating its lead gene editing program VERVE-101 following a serious adverse event, the company announced Tuesday.
A patient, who received a 0.45-mg/kg dose of VERVE-101, developed a grade 3...
By Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.14.2024
The stated goal of many organizations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), an imagined system with more intelligence than anything we have ever seen. Without seriously questioning whether such a system can...
By Harold Brubaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer | 04.04.2024
Acompany started by University of Pennsylvania scientist Jim Wilson has received FDA approval to test a form of gene editing in infants for the first time in the United States, the company said Thursday.
The Plymouth Meeting company, iECURE, is...
By Judith Levine, The Intercept | 04.04.2024
WHEN THE ALABAMA Supreme Court ruled that fertilized embryos were “extrauterine children,” it did more than imperil the future of in vitro fertilization in Alabama and, potentially, the U.S. The ruling, on the claimed “wrongful death” of frozen embryos...