Princeton University researchers have developed a new tool to enhance
the use of theCRISPR-Cas9gene-editing technique. The tool called
Repair-seq aids researchers to quickly see how various genes involved in
repairing DNA damage impact the efficiency of genome editing technologies.

The research team is led by Britt Adamson, who worked together with
researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Editas
Medicine. "We've known for a long time that the mechanisms involved in
fixing broken DNA are essential for genome editing because to change the
sequence of DNA you first have to break it," said Adamson. "But those
processes are incredibly complex and thus often difficult to untangle."

To fix the DNA, several mechanisms are involved, and many genes work
together through various pathways. Repair-seq works like a magnifying
glass that helps researchers probe the involvement of the pathways to
DNA repair by profiling how observed mutations change when one of these
factors is absent. This probing is done for hundreds ofGenesat the same
time.

Princeton-led studies boost CRISPR gene-editing prospects
[www.princeton.edu]