Summit peers into the future of gene editing

Over the years, researchers have found various methods of editing the genes of organisms. They involve amending the DNA within an organism’s nucleus, rather than inserting transgenic materials from other organisms into the nucleus. Since 2013, scientists have been pursuing an efficient approach of directly targeting sites in a cell’s chromosomes. The technique uses the cell’s own bits of RNA strands to guide its Cas proteins in ways that apply highly specific amendments to the DNA, thus altering the organism itself. In agriculture, scientists are now increasingly applying genome editing to vanquish diseases and enable great leaps forward: for example, to develop resistance to citrus greening for citrus trees or to bestow immunity to porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) for pigs.