High fidelity genome editing technique developed
The CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique, discovered by Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020) can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with a high degree of precision. The technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences, is contributing to new cancer therapies and may help to cure inherited diseases.
Now a team at the University of Hong Kong led by Dr Alan Wong Siu-lun (Croucher Studentship 2008, Croucher Fellowship 2012) has developed a high fidelity version of the technique with significantly improved accuracy.
The new technique reduces off-target edits by more than 95% and can discriminate between targets with single-base differences. This could expand the scope of genome editing to many single mutations that could not have been targeted previously in therapeutic settings.
The work published in Nucleic Acids Research was supported by the Centre for Oncology and Immunology a new research laboratory established by the University of Hong Kong with funding from the InnoHK programme of the Innovation and Technology Commission. A patent application has been filed.