Study says gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9 can lead to cell toxicity and genome instability

“Scientists at IRB Barcelona [Institute for Research in Biomedicine], led by ICREA [Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies] researcher Fran Supek, have now reported that, depending on the targeted spot of the human genome, CRISPR gene editing can give rise to cell toxicity and genomic instability. This unwanted effect is mediated by the linchpin tumor suppressor protein p53, and is determined by the DNA sequence near the editing point and various epigenetic factors in the surrounding region.   . . . . around 15% of the human genes contain at least one toxic editing point.”     MORE

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