programmable gene splicing with single base editors tagged posts

CRISPR-SKIP: programmable gene splicing with single base editors. Genome Biology, 2018; 19 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s13059-018-1482-5

In a new study in cells, University of Illinois researchers have adapted CRISPR gene-editing technology to cause the cell’s internal machinery to skip over a small portion of a gene when transcribing it into a template for protein building. This gives researchers a way not only to eliminate a mutated gene sequence, but to influence how the gene is expressed and regulated. Such targeted editing could one day be useful for treating genetic diseases caused by mutations in the genome, such as Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease or some cancers.

CRISPR technologies typically turn off genes by breaking the DNA at the start of a targeted gene, inducing muta...