Game-changing technology enables faster, cheaper gene editing

Within the past few years, a new technology has made altering genes in plants and animals much easier than before. The tool, called CRISPR/Cas9 or just CRISPR, has spurred a flurry of research that could one day lead to hardier crops and livestock, as well as innovative biomedicines. But along with potential benefits, it raises red flags, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Ann M. Thayer, a senior correspondent at C&EN, notes that scientists have long had the ability to remove, repair or insert genetic material in cells. But the process was time consuming and expensive. CRISPR, which stands for "clustered regularly interspaced short palinodromic repeats," streamlines gene editing dramatically. Its simplicity has enabled far more scientists to get involved in such work. In a short time, they have now used CRISPR to edit genes in insects, plants, fish, rodents and monkeys.