The CRIPSR/Cas gene-editing system—an immature but useful toolkit for experimental and clinical medicine

[摘要] A Chinese scientist, Jiankui He, and his creation of the world's first genetically altered baby made headlines recently. As a newly developed gene‐editing technique, the CRISPR/Cas system should not be applied to human beings for reproductive pur‐ poses until it has been extensively tested. However, numerous experimental research studies in human somatic, germline cells, and even in embryos, have been conducted, which have shown CRISPR/Cas to be a useful tool for human genome editing and a potential therapeutic method for future clinical use.

[学科分类] 机械工程学

[关键词] CRISPR‐Cas;gene editing;gene therapy;human embryos;recombinant DNA