CRISPR technology has been used in many novel ways in modern genetic research through its ability to modify the DNA of living organisms. By utilizing two different gene editing methods, researchers at ETH Zurich have found a way to investigate how genetic mutations relate to cancer. Using CRISPR, the researchers modified the EGFR gene in two human cell lines in more than 50,000 different variations to create mutated cells which they tested. This was achieved by first modifying the base pair sequence in the genes using base editing, which allows for the replacement of cytosine with thymine and adenine with guanine. Prime editing, a less reliable technique that can swap any DNA base, was then used afterwards to finish the base pair replacement.
The researchers found that there were ten formerly uncertain variants which now have evidence suggesting that they are significant to cancer, either in its onset or its resilience. They also found a mechanism by which the EGFR gene could cause cancer. Lastly, they found six new variants that have never been observed that could play a role in cancer.
The research described above has only scratched the surface of the potential this new method has. The variants in all other genes are now at researchers' disposal to be decoded and analyzed using this method, and could lead to further understanding in the fields of genetics and oncology as a whole.
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