“Chemical Surgery” to Remove Single Point Mutations in DNA
November 14, 2017 | Terry Sharrer
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing is the new tool in the box of molecular surgeons, but this method deletes multiple bases in a gene. Researchers at Harvard and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, however, have focuses on changing a single pathogenic base, as is found in around 5,000 point mutation diseases. This technique is called “base editing” (as opposed to “gene editing”), though it resembles CRISPR in using an RNA targeting sequence. With a different enzyme, cytosine is converted to uracil in a five base sequence. Chinese researchers carried out this procedure on human embryos, but the embryos were not implanted. The target was the point mutation for beta thalassemia. MORE
Image Credit: Harvard Gazette (VIDEO)