CRISPR gene editing can create large numbers of unwanted DNA changes that may go undetected, researchers report today (July 16) in Nature Biotechnology. The findings suggest that some potential treatments using the gene-editing tool may not yet be safe to test in humans.
“Anyone thinking of using this technology for gene therapy” should proceed with caution, and “check for possible harmful effects,” study coauthor Allan Bradley, a geneticist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, tells Reuters.
The data show that CRISPR’s DNA-cutting enzyme can delete or rearrange large numbers of genes beyond what it is designed to edit. The findings add to previous studies that have shown that CRISPR and other gene-editing systems can cause off-target effects and even possibly increase the risk that some edited cells could become cancerous when certain genes that should be active are not functioning properly.
The changes to DNA have been “seriously underestimated,” Bradley tells ...
