Reverse genetics in model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster, Arabidopsis thaliana, zebrafish and rats, efficient genome engineering in human embryonic stem and induced pluripotent stem cells, targeted integration in crop plants, and HIV resistance in immune cells.

This broad range of outcomes has resulted from the application of the same core technology: targeted genome cleavage by engineered, sequence-specific zinc finger nucleases followed by gene modification during subsequent repair.

Such ’genome editing’ is now established in human cells and a number of model organisms, thus opening the door to a range of new experimental and therapeutic possibilities.

References

 Genome editing with engineered zinc finger nucleases. Urnov FD, Rebar EJ, Holmes MC, Zhang HS, Gregory PD. Nat Rev Genet. 2010 Sep;11(9):636-46. PMID: 20717154