A powerful gene-editing tool called Crispr-Cas9, which this month nabbed the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for two female scientists, can cause serious side effects in the cells of human embryos, prompting them to discard large chunks of their genetic material, a new study has found.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system works similarly in the lab. Researchers create a small piece of RNA with a short “guide” sequence that attaches (binds) to a specific target sequence of DNA in a genome. The RNA also binds to the Cas9 enzyme.

CRISPR is an acronym for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.” CRISPR genome engineering technology enables scientists to easily and precisely edit the DNA of any genome. In nature, the CRISPR palindromic repeats play an important role in microbial immunity.

Currently, there is no known cure for this condition and genetic therapies are being pursued. Research studies: The most frequent genetic cause of Leber congenital amaurosis is a genetic mutation known as LCA10.

Today, generating transgenic animals for scientific experiments is quite common using modern genome editing methods, but as for the history of genetically modified animals, this process first began with a research team led by Thomas Wagner at Ohio University in 1981.

Today, let’s break down the pros and cons of gene editing….The Pros of Gene Editing

• Tackling and Defeating Diseases: Most deadly and severe diseases in the world have resisted destruction.
• Extend Lifespan. Genome editing could extend the human lifespan.
• Growth In Food Production and Its Quality:
• Pest Resilient Crops:

It can create mutations elsewhere in the genome, known as ‘off-target’ modifications. Off-target effects are random and can unduly influence other genes or regions of the genome.

Current advances in genome editing tools allow us not only to target monogenic diseases but also polygenic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Genomic editing also provides a degree of precision not previously possible by other therapeutic approaches through its ability to target individual cell types.

Editing genes in human embryos could one day prevent some serious genetic disorders from being passed down from parents to their children — but, for now, the technique is too risky to be used in embryos destined for implantation, according to a high-profile international commission.