gene editing

noun

variants: or genome editing

Definition of gene editing

: the use of biotechnological techniques to make changes to specific DNA sequences in the genome of a living organism Fundamental research into the ways by which bacteria defend themselves against viruses has recently led to the development of powerful new techniques that make it possible to perform gene editing—that is, precisely altering genetic sequences—in living cells, including those of humans, at much higher accuracy and efficiency than ever before possible.— David Baltimore et al. The era of straightforward genome editing raises ethical questions that will need to be addressed by scientists and society at large.— Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier —often hyphenated when used before another noun a gene-editing technique called CRISPR

Examples of gene editing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In an action that could place 10 potentially lucrative patent applications from UC Berkeley in jeopardy, the U.S. patent office has reopened the thorny question of who invented a key CRISPR gene editing technology first. — Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, "In possible blow to UC, patent office revisits conflict over CRISPR invention," 27 June 2019 Vertex will also bolster its relationship with CRISPR Therapeutics, a gene editing company. — Orla Mccaffrey, Dallas News, "Boston research company bets on UT Southwestern researcher's gene therapy," 18 June 2019 Vertex agreed to exclusively license the gene editing technology for $175 million, plus future incentives of $1 billion. — Orla Mccaffrey, Dallas News, "Boston research company bets on UT Southwestern researcher's gene therapy," 18 June 2019 But the same mutation was already known to make humans more susceptible to other diseases, raising the question of whether the gene editing put its recipients at risk. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Target of first human gene editing cuts life expectancy short," 5 June 2019 And Sangamo Therapeutics, a company in Richmond, California, has employed an older gene editing tool called zinc finger nucleases to knock out a gene in some of the cells of HIV patients to help them resist the virus. — Jocelyn Kaiser, Science | AAAS, "Gene edited monkeys offer hope for heart disease patients," 9 July 2018 The gene editing system will recognize the normal DNA and make a cut in it. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Gene drive used to turn all female mosquitos sterile," 27 Sep. 2018 In recent years, scientists have begun using the gene editing tool Crispr to experiment in the laboratory with altering embryos and changing the DNA of animals. — Amy Dockser Marcus, WSJ, "Communities Raise Their Voices on Genetic Engineering," 27 July 2018 More patients have had their genes edited since, according to doctors involved in those tests, though none of China’s Crispr trials have published results. — Wenxin Fan, WSJ, "Chinese Gene-Editing Experiment Loses Track of Patients, Alarming Technology’s Inventors," 28 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gene editing.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.