CRISPR

Following a recent call for a moratorium on human germline gene editing, several scientists have pushed back, claiming prohibition is redundant and problematic. The WHO's panel on the topic also sidestepped the issue, instead recommending a central registry on human gene editing research be created.

A collective of researchers and ethicists is calling for an urgent global moratorium on human germline gene editing, suggesting serious discussions on technical, scientific, medical, societal, ethical and moral issues need to be had before scientists move forward with the controversial technique.

The first confirmed CRISPR gene editing clinical trial to take place outside of China is officially underway, after pharmaceutical companies CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex revealed a human patient has been administered the experimental treatment targeting a rare blood disease.

A team of genetic scientists at the Salk Institute have developed a new therapy using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool that takes a toxic protein out of the aging equation, with some promising results. ​

In an incredible milestone, scientists have for the first time created “universal” stem cells by using CRISPR gene-editing technology to produce pluripotent stem cells that can be transplanted into any patient without generating an immune system response.

In the world of gene-editing, CRISPR and Cas9 usually go hand in hand, but that might not necessarily be the best pairing. Now, researchers at UC Berkeley have tested a new candidate, CasX, which seems to have a few advantages of its own.

New research out of China has confirmed the birth of five-gene-edited monkey clones. Two recently published papers describe how a CRISPR-gene edited long-tailed macaque has been successfully cloned demonstrating the first time in the world a gene-edited monkey has been effectively cloned.

Humans have been tinkering with evolution for millennia, but new research might make the process a bit more direct. Biologists at the University of California San Diego have successfully used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to control genetic inheritance in mice for the first time.

Although Cas9 has been the go-to enzyme for gene-editing, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best option. Now a team of scientists, including the co-creator of CRISPR, has engineered a more precise enzyme, known as Cas12b.

Preliminary results of an investigation by the Chinese government into the ethics of experiments that led to the birth of the world's first gene-edited babies have now been released. The report condemns the actions of He and confirming some of the questions previously raised about this strange case.

Alongside new discoveries in gut-brain communication and the genesis of Alzheimer’s disease, the FDA advanced acceptance of psychedelic medicines, from psilocybin to marijuana. But looming over all of these milestones was the controversial alleged birth of the world’s first gene-edited baby.

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is a highly infectious and deadly disease among pigs, with outbreaks leading to huge livestock losses. Now, researchers from Jilin University in China have genetically modified pigs to be resistant to the virus, which will also pass that down to their offspring.