CRISPR has revolutionized the world of gene editing. It has allowed scientists to conduct advanced research into diseases, research live cells, and it’s not expensive or overly complicated. But one thing it has always lacked is specificity. In some respects, it is the sledgehammer, not the sword; the cleaver, not the scalpel.
That is, until now.
Harvard University researchers have developed a new method of using CRISPR to alter single letters in the DNA code. This opens up the possibility of reversing mutations (and the diseases that stem from them) caused by the changing of only one letter, which represents nearly two thirds of all genetic mutations.
In an article in the journal Nature, the researchers described the new method, which doesn’t need to cut both strands of the DNA double-helix to alter the genetic code. It can directly convert a single letter of DNA to another, without deleting and inserting a bunch of random letters.
To read more, click here.