All Categories

Genome editing refers to our ability to make directed changes at specific sites in the DNA sequence in cells of an organism. Several different techniques for genome editing have been developed, and have been successful in some species, but none has been in widespread use for most organisms. A method known as CRISPR, or more properly as CRISPR-Cas9, first used for genome editing about five years ago, offers the realistic potential to edit the DNA sequence in cells of nearly any species. The talk will provide an overview of the method and its applications, comparing it to other editing methods, with some ideas about the most recent developments in this rapidly changing field. I will also discuss the one published study that edited the genome of human sperm, and thus the embryos that arose from those sperm. Some of the ethical questions associated with editing the genome in the human germline will be considered.