CRISPR is a revolutionary gene-editing tool, but it’s not without risk
By Mark Shwartz
Illustration by Jason Holley
Photography by Timothy Archibald
Once a month, David Sanchez, 15, comes to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford for an infusion of donor red blood cells. David was born with
sickle-cell disease, an inherited disorder caused by a mutation in one gene among the roughly 20,000 in our DNA.
David’s monthly infusions offer only temporary relief from the debilitating and potentially deadly complications of his disease. But what if his genetic disease — and thousands of others — could be cured by simply fixing the mutation? Researchers are betting they can with CRISPR, a powerful technology that allows scientists to quickly target, delete and repair any mutated sequence of DNA in any gene.
Other gene-editing tools have emerged in recent years, but none seems to match the precision, low cost and usability of CRISPR, which is rapidly transforming genetic [...]
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CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments of bacteriophages that had previously infected the prokaryote. They are used to
detect and destroy DNA from similar bacteriophages during subsequent infections. CRISPR technology is a simple yet powerful tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops.