Genome Editing

Genome editing with engineered DNA endonucleases describes the targeted manipulation of an organism’s genomic information. A number of different nucleases are available to this end but due to its simplicity without the need for intricate protein engineering and its amenability for multiplexing the CRISPR/Cas9 platform is presently predominant. Most commonly, these engineered endonucleases are used to insert DNA double strand breaks at a defined position. The cellular DNA repair machinery processes this lesion, leading to gene knock-outs or insertions depending on the experimental design.