CRISPR Off On switch

MIT and University of California at San Francisco have developed a process that better controls CRISPR gene editing.  They “started by creating a machine made of a protein and small RNAs that guided it to specific spots on strands of DNA. The machine adds “methyl groups” to genes to silence their expression. The technology can also reverse the process, turning the genes back on by removing the methyl groups. . . . The researchers were surprised to discover they could use the on-off switch to target the majority of genes in the human genome, even those that don’t make proteins.” MORE

Image Credit: Jennifer Cook-Chrysos/Whitehead Institute, MIT News and FierceBiotech.com