CRISPR may be fundamentally flawed - just before human trials start

[Brian G Turner]

CRISPR has been taking the world of biology by storm - a new way to edit genetic code in a way that's fast, efficient, and error-free.

New Scientist reports there at least 20 clinical trials moving forward relating to this techniques, some of which involve human subjects:

Boom in human gene editing as 20 CRISPR trials gear up

The problem is, another research team has just pointed out that the method may be fundamentally flawed, resulting in a mass of unwanted gene edits:

CRISPR causes many unwanted mutations, small study suggests

And the biggest problem IMO? Some trials involve using CRISPR modified viruses - without knowing if they may have become dangerously mutated or not...

 

[tinkerdan]

One problem I have with articles like this is that when someone like myself, who hasn't kept up with this particular divergence in science, comes into it and the writer hits the ground running leading with an assumption I have a full knowledge of just what CRISPR is, I'm left out in the cold and would be scratching my head but for the fact that the article did that on it's way over.
I usually end up chaining through other referenced articles until after half dozen or so I break out and seek a more direct route to the answer to the question of what does CRISPR even mean.

CRISPR - Wikipedia

And even after reading that I had to read through a few times to catch up.