Genome Editing Goes Hi-Fi

A recent article published by Phys.org highlights a new technique for identifying and editing the human genome one letter at a time, creating a much easier way for researchers to model and eventually "fix" the mutations in the human genome that cause disease. The technique, created by Dr. Bruce Conklin and his lab at the Gladstone Institute, describes a way to identify a single mutation among thousands of healthy cells by using a fluorescent probe that could visually distinguish mutated genes from normal ones.  The identifying technique was tested on stem cells derived from human skin cells along with another gene-editing procedure called TALENs. Overall, geneticists and biologists hope to use Dr. Conklin's new technique as a supplement to existing gene-modifying methods like TALENs. Dr. Conklin states that his procedure treats human genome like lines of computer code and that it "could one day be used to reverse harmful mutations and repair the damaged code."

This article did a fine job of giving an informative overview of genetic modification to the general public, as well as identifying the direction that current researchers aim to take their work. I think the idea of viewing the human genome as a computer code will make it far easier to break down and target the harmful sections of the code, and ultimately repair those sections. The article points out that many genetic diseases can occur at frequencies as low as 1%, making it extremely difficult to find the mutations, let alone begin to treat them. This new technique will help eliminate the difficulty in finding these mutations, and hopefully will allow doctors and researchers to focus on repairing and curing those sections of the genome.

More information about the human genome and the Human Genome Project (HGP).
More on how stem cells work and are used here.