Gene-Editing Technique Named Breakthrough of the Year 2015

The gene-editing technique “CRISPR” can deliver a gene to the right spot compared to its genome editing competitors. The technique is inexpensive and easy to use.

The US journal Science named a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR as 2015’s breakthrough of the year, due to its potential to revolutionize health and medicine.

The method has stirred controversy, particularly after Chinese researchers earlier this year announced they had deliberately edited the DNA of nonviable human embryos from a fertility clinic.

RNA-Based Drugs Give More Control Over the Gene Editing Process
Researchers have demonstrated a commercially feasible way to use RNA to turn the CRISPR-Cas9 system on and off as desired.

Concerns over such research -- and the prospect of altering humans to promote certain, desirable traits -- recently prompted global scientists to urge researchers to steer clear of interfering with embryos destined for pregnancy, citing the risks of introducing permanent changes into the population.

But many are excited about the "superior ability of CRISPR to deliver a gene to the right spot compared to its genome editing competitors -? as well as the technique's low cost and ease of use," said the journal Science.

"Clinical researchers are already applying it to create tissue-based treatments for cancer and other diseases," wrote managing news editor John Travis.

Precise Gene Editing in Monkeys may Help Create Valuable Human Disease Models
While monkeys are known to be important for modeling diseases because of their close similarities to humans, past efforts to precisely modify genes in primates have failed.

"CRISPR may also revive the moribund concept of transplanting animal organs into people."

Thousands of labs, high school students and scientists have already begun exploiting the three-year old technique, he said.

Advancements in Genome Editing
A way of editing the human genome efficiently, one letter at a time, has been found at the Gladstone Institutes that boosts researchers' ability to model human disease and paves way for cure also.

"It's only slightly hyperbolic to say that if scientists can dream of a genetic manipulation, CRISPR can now make it happen," said Travis.

The technique, first announced in 2012, experienced a "massive growth spurt last year," Travis said, describing it as a "molecular marvel."

Human Blood Stem Cells are Genetically 'Edited' by Scientists
A new gene-editing technique to create what could prove to be an effective technique for blocking HIV from invading and destroying patient's immune systems has been used by researchers.

Marcia McNutt, editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals, said in an accompanying editorial that "in two years' time CRISPR will have brought to many diverse fields in biology the enduring level of excitement and optimism that immunotherapy has brought to cancer patients."

Immunotherapy, a host of techniques which harness the body's immune cells to fight cancer, was named Science's breakthrough of 2013.

But the lay public was less enthusiastic about CRISPR, according to online visitors who voted on the top 10 picks of the year on Science's website.

To 35 percent of voters, the flyby of Pluto by an unmanned NASA probe called New Horizons was the top breakthrough of the year, offering views in unprecedented detail of the distant dwarf planet. CRISPR followed with 20 percent of online votes.

Source-AFP