Genetic Microsurgery for the Masses

摘要

In the 1920s, the introduction of a microscope into the operating room touched off a revolution in surgical procedures. Suddenly, doctors could fix ears, blood vessels, and other parts of the human body with exhilarating precision and ease. Now, biologists operating on the genome are gaining similar abilities, thanks to a bacterial protein called Cas9. That protein, coupled with RNA designed to home in on specific DNA sequences, gives researchers the equivalent of a molecular surgery kit for routinely disabling, activating, or changing genes.