CRISPR off-target errors
/A CRISPR spin-off causes unintended typos in DNA
Even the best editor sometimes introduces typos. That’s true whether the editor is human or a version of the much-heralded gene-editing tool CRISPR.
One type of CRISPR gene editor that changes individual DNA bases, rather than cutting DNA, introduces more unwanted mutations than expected in mouse embryos and rice plants, researchers report. Those mistakes occurred in places where the tool wasn’t supposed to make changes. Another tested base editor, however, didn’t make the undesirable edits. The results were described in two studies published online February 28 in Science.
