Genetic Engineering Publications - GEG Tech top picks

New ‘prime’ genome editor could surpass CRISPR.

A new gene editing technique called prime editing, tested in human and mouse cells, rewrites DNA by only cutting a single strand to add, remove, or replace base pairs.  It uses the same Cas9 nuclease as frequently deployed in the CRISPR system but combines the enzyme with two new reagents: a guide RNA called pegRNA, which leads Cas9 to the desired spot in the genome, and a reverse transcriptase that initiates the addition of a new sequence or base into the genome. Once the new genetic material is incorporated into the cut strand of DNA, the prime editor nicks the unedited strand, signaling to the cell to rebuild it to match the edited strand.

The method may allow researchers to edit more types of genetic mutations than existing genome-editing approaches such as CRISPR-Cas9, researchers report today (October 21) in Nature.