CRISPR, about to be crisped
a recent quite shocking article found that disruptions of the genome from double-stranded DNA breaks, as happens with CRISPR, seem to lead to long-term genetic dysfunction with profound effects both locally and more remotely in the genome; these adverse changes persist through several rounds of successive cell divisions and are likely inherited by offspring: see gene editing leaves heritable impairment Science2025 in dropbox or DOI: 10.1126/science. adk6662. There is lots of complex biology in the article. i will summarize major points below A few background clarifications: -- Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) is effectively a molecular scissors that cuts double stranded DNA at precise locations in the genome and is the methodology allowing CRISPR to then alter the genetic material. this entire process is commonly referred to as CRISPR/Cas9: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4975809/ -- chromatin is the complex, compact, coiled 3-dimensional structur...
