DNA-editing ‘pencils’ probe early human development

Sherif Khodeer is in the Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, and at the KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), Leuven 3000, Belgium.

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Vincent Pasque is in the Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, and at the KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), Leuven 3000, Belgium.

Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X Save article View saved research Writing in Nature , Bower et al . 1 and Jerabek et al . 2 describe how they have used a precision genome-editing tool, known as base editing, in human embryos to reveal how a key gene contributes to early development, and how embryos respond to specific DNA changes. The work sharpens scientists’ view of this developmental stage while inevitably reactivating debates about heritable DNA editing.

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