There hasn\u2019t been a better time for gene editing. Scientists, with help of CRISPR, a revolutionary DNA-editing tool, are trying to find a cure for most health-related concerns, big and small. Although gene editing has existed for years, it was very expensive and challenging until the cheaper and simpler CRISPR technique was discovered.<\/p>\n
So when a study by Columbia University Medical Center was published in May in the journal Nature Methods<\/em> about this revolutionary CRISPR gene-editing technique causing unwanted and dangerous mutations, the medical community was flummoxed. The paper questioned how effective gene-editing technology is and called for a reassessment of the technique\u2019s safety. What followed could be described as fallout frenzy\u2014 stock prices of three public gene-editing companies, Editas Medicine, Intellia Therapeutics, and CRISPR Therapeutics dropped.<\/p>\n However, doubts were raised by scientists affiliated with these CRISPR companies. This was mainly because the study had a small sample size of three mice. A new paper that was published in July and is available on a preprint server offers a plausible explanation for the controversial results, that is, the unwanted mutations. Two of the three study subjects, the CRISPR-edited mice, happened to be more closely related and thus shared more mutations. Therefore, the paper claimed that the premise of the old study was incorrect.<\/p>\n The success of CRISPR gene editing can have a significant impact on health care as it seeks to accurately diagnose and find a cure for fatal diseases like cancer, hereditary diseases, and mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika and dengue fever. So for now, the medical profession and scientific community who are understandably excited about the potential CRISPR has can breathe a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n Sources:<\/p>\n DOI: 10.1101\/159707<\/a>
\nDOI: 10.1016\/j.cell.2017.05.044<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":33313,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"new_tags":[],"series":[],"subject":[2976,2974,2975],"class_list":["post-17905","research","type-research","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-and-molecular-biology","subject-biochemistry","subject-genetics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n