CRISPR gene editing
A bacterial immune system becomes a tool for rewriting DNA cheaply and precisely.
- When
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
Doudna and Charpentier publish in 2012 that the CRISPR-Cas9 system can be directed to cut DNA at any chosen sequence, making gene editing dramatically easier and cheaper than earlier methods. They share the Nobel in 2020. In 2018 He Jiankui used it on human embryos, producing the first gene-edited babies, and was widely condemned and imprisoned. The first approved CRISPR therapy, for sickle cell disease, was licensed in 2023.