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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

Advances in Precision Editing Therapies for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Genome and RNA editing modalities have revolutionized precision gene therapy, offering a safer alternative to traditional gene replacement approaches. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is a compelling model for precision medicine because the disease mechanism is well defined-mutations in a single gene are responsible for both liver and lung pathology. In this review, we summarize the current preclinical and clinical efforts for AATD, with an emphasis on genome and RNA editing strategies.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

Expanding the scope of precision editing in seaweeds through the application of a novel CRISPR-associated nuclease 12a-aligned CRISPR system in Ulva prolifera.

Seaweeds, such as the fast-growing green alga Ulva prolifera, can be harnessed as valuable marine crops. The lack of scalable genome-editing tools hampers functional genomics to explore and elucidate algal molecular pathways with industrial importance. Here, we expanded precision genome modification in seaweeds by successfully demonstrating gene editing with a transgene-free AT-rich-targeting CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) system in U. prolifera. By evaluating various delivery buffers, comparing different Cas systems, and optimizing incubation temperatures, we determined suitable conditions for more widespread applicability of a novel Cas12a-aligned ST8 editor. We obtained >50 ST8-mediated knockout mutants of a toxin-based endogenous marker gene, UpAPT, at 28 °C post-delivery incubations. Our work diversified the applicable genome-editing tools in seaweeds, advancing algal functional genomics and providing more strategies to precisely target unexplored seaweed resources.

Ulva↗
PubMed2026

Base editing for precision therapeutics.

Base editing (BE), the precise installation of single-nucleotide changes in DNA or RNA without inducing double-strand breaks, holds substantial therapeutic promise for correcting single-nucleotide variants, which constitute more than half of the known pathogenic genetic variants. Recent advances have improved base editor specificity, efficiency, and delivery, enabling clinically oriented procedures. Clinically, BE has shown early success or strong translational promise in sickle cell disease, β-thalassemia, leukemia (via CAR T and epitope engineering), hypercholesterolemia (PCSK9 and ANGPTL3), alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, and glycogen storage disease type Ia. Key remaining challenges include bystander editing within the activity window, residual off-target DNA and RNA editing, delivery constraints (payload size, tissue targeting, and redosing limits), immunogenicity, and the need for durable long-term safety evidence across relevant cell types and disease contexts. Continued technological refinements, careful preclinical validation, and rigorous clinical assessment will be essential to fully realize BE's transformative potential in precision medicine.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

Synergistic HMGN1 and VP64 Fusions Potentiate High-Precision and PAM-Flexible Base Editing.

RNA-guided CRISPR-derived base editors (BEs) have revolutionized genome editing by enabling targeted base substitutions. However, their application is frequently constrained by the stringent requirement for PAM sequences and low editing precision (bystander editing). Here, we present a robust strategy to overcome these limitations by coupling SpRY, a near-PAM-less Cas9 variant, with truncated CDA1 cytidine deaminases. While this combination enables precise editing of virtually any cytosine in the genome, it initially exhibited suboptimal efficiency. To address this, we systematically screened a diverse panel of candidate DNA-binding proteins and identified that the synergistic fusion of HMGN1 and VP64 substantially enhances editing activity without compromising precision. Importantly, this enhanced editing efficiency was achieved without markedly increasing off-target effects. Our new BEs demonstrated robust performance not only in yeast but also in rice, suggesting broad applicability in gene therapy, precision breeding, and fundamental research.

Gene Editing↗
PubMed2026

CRISPR-Cas technologies for precision genome editing in plants: advances, applications, and future perspectives.

Developing climate-smart crops with enhanced crop productivity, nutritional quality, resistance to biological and environmental stressors is vital for global food security. While hybrid breeding forms the cornerstone of modern crop improvement, conventional breeding approaches are limited by genetic barriers and prolonged breeding cycles. CRISPR-Cas based genome editing has revolutionized plant biology by allowing precise, efficient, and multiplex genetic modifications. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of a recent advances in CRISPR-Cas technologies and their strategic applications in crop genetics and hybrid breeding. We summarize major genome-editing strategies, including gene knock-out, base editing (BE), knock-in, gene replacement, epigenome editing, and transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, we contrast stable, transient, and DNA-free delivery systems, highlighting ribonucleoprotein (RNP)-mediated delivery for minimizing off-target effects and avoiding transgene integration. We showcase how these technologies accelerate hybrid breeding by engineering male sterility systems, fixing heterosis, and generating high-throughput mutant libraries for trait discovery. Finally, we synthesize major bottlenecks in tissue culture-independent transformation and delivery systems, while outlining how emerging paradigms like de novo domestication and synthetic biology will shape the future of climate-resilient agriculture.

CRISPR/Cas↗
PubMed2025

Bacterial directed evolution of CRISPR base editors.

Base editing and other precision editing agents have transformed the utility and therapeutic potential of CRISPR-based genome editing. While some native enzymes edit efficiently with their nature-derived function, many enzymes require rational engineering or directed evolution to enhance the compatibility with mammalian cell genome editing. While many methods of engineering and directed evolution exist, plate-based discrete evolution offers an ideal balance between ease of use and engineering power. Here, we describe a detailed method for the bacterial directed evolution of CRISPR base editors that compounds technical ease with flexibility of application.

Gene Editing↗
PubMed2026

From feasibility to predictability: prime editing redefines precision breeding in plants.

Originally developed in mammalian systems as a genome editing strategy without double-strand breaks, prime editing (PE) has been adapted for precise genome modifications. However, its deployment revealed key limitations, including reduced efficiency, strong locus dependency, low germline transmission, and somatic chimerism. Consequently, diverse PE variants have emerged, resulting in fragmented landscape of architectures with context-dependent and inconsistent performance. This review consolidates these advances and outlines emerging design principles behind plant PE systems. It evaluates optimization strategies at multiple levels, discusses their applications in monocots and eudicots, and highlights persistent bottlenecks and future directions, including AI-guided protein engineering and improved delivery strategies. These advances position PE as a rapidly evolving platform toward enabling precision breeding in plants.

cis-regulatory engineering↗
PubMed2026

Enhanced Cas12i3 system enables precise OsAUX3 editing for rice grain improvement.

An optimized Cas12i3 genome-editing system enables highly efficient and predictable editing of regulatory sequences in rice. Precise promoter engineering fine-tunes gene expression, improves grain size, and enhances production potential, demonstrating a powerful new approach for crop improvement through targeted regulation rather than gene disruption.

Oryza↗
PubMed2026

Discovery and Engineering of a Rat Endogenous Retrovirus Reverse Transcriptase for Efficient Prime Editing.

CRISPR-based prime editors (PEs) install precise edits into genomic DNA without generating double-strand breaks. Their editing efficiency is highly dependent on reverse transcriptases (RTs), but efficient RT candidates remain limited. Here, we identified 19 novel active RTs by screening 558 candidates. Among them, RERV-RT, derived from Rattus norvegicus, exhibited the highest activity. Through structure-guided engineering and deep mutational scanning, we developed an optimized variant, enRERV-RT, which outperforms conventional M-MLV-RT-based PE systems by 1.20-fold in mammalian and plant cells, and by 1.88-fold at hard-to-edit loci, while enabling precise multiplex editing of functionally relevant genes. Additionally, we developed a high-throughput platform, TRAP-seq-PE, to systematically evaluate prime editor performance. Across diverse mutation types, we found that PE systems based on enRERV-RT exhibited higher editing efficiencies than those based on M-MLV-RT. Collectively, our work establishes a versatile, high-efficiency PE system, thereby facilitating advances in clinical gene therapy and precise crop breeding.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

Programmable promoter editing for precise control of transgene expression.

Subtle changes in gene expression direct cells to distinct cellular states. Identifying and controlling dose-dependent transgenes require tools for precisely titrating expression. Here, we develop a highly modular, extensible framework called DIAL for building editable promoters that allow for fine-scale, heritable changes in transgene expression. Using DIAL, we increase expression by recombinase-mediated excision of spacers between the binding sites of a synthetic zinc finger transcription factor and the core promoter. By nesting varying numbers and lengths of spacers, DIAL generates a tunable range of unimodal setpoints from a single promoter. Through small-molecule control of transcription factors and recombinases, DIAL supports temporally defined, user-guided control of transgene expression that is extensible to additional transcription factors. Lentiviral delivery of DIAL generates multiple setpoints in primary cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. As promoter editing generates stable states, DIAL setpoints are heritable, facilitating mapping of transgene levels to phenotype and fate in direct conversion to induced motor neurons. The DIAL framework opens opportunities for tailoring transgene expression and improving the predictability and performance of gene circuits across diverse applications.

Promoter Regions, Genetic↗
PubMed2026

Herbicide Resistance Genes in Crops: Mechanisms, Progress, and Future Perspectives.

While previous reviews have largely focused on individual crops or single target-site mechanisms, the full-chain comparative landscape across major cereal crops remains unexplored. Here, we fill this critical gap by providing the first systematic, cross-crop comparative review that spans herbicide targets, resistance mechanisms, and breeding applications across four major cereals-rice, maize, wheat, and sorghum. Weed infestation is a serious constraint on crop production. Chemical weed control faces challenges such as herbicide resistance evolution and ecological risks. Developing herbicide-resistant varieties is a fundamental approach to achieve green and sustainable weed management. This review systematically summarizes research progress on herbicide resistance genes from three aspects: herbicide classification, resistance mechanisms, and crop breeding applications. It highlights key differences among four major cereal crops (rice, maize, wheat, and sorghum) in resistance-gene discovery and translational progress. Rice has the richest target-site resistance-gene resources. Maize leads in commercialization of transgenic herbicide resistance. Wheat focuses on endogenous precise editing due to genome complexity and regulatory constraints. Sorghum relies on specific mutations to serve cereal-legume intercropping systems. Based on this comparison, this review identifies the core trends in resistance breeding: from single-gene to multi-gene stacking, and from exogenous gene introduction to endogenous gene editing. It also points out common bottlenecks, including insufficient systematic mining of resistance-gene resources, lagging elucidation of non-target-site resistance regulatory networks, and strong genotype dependence in genetic transformation. Future efforts should focus on exploring broad-spectrum resistance genes, optimizing precise editing technologies, and developing sustainable resistance management strategies. This review provides a theoretical framework and practical references for molecular breeding of herbicide-resistant crops.

crop breeding↗
PubMed2025

CRISPR as a Tool to Uncover Gene Function in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Literature Review of Experimental Models Targeting Ovarian and Metabolic Genes.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex disorder characterized by reproductive abnormalities such as hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology, and is frequently accompanied by metabolic disturbances such as insulin resistance, obesity and dyslipidemia. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified several susceptibility loci, yet little is known about their functional implications. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) has emerged as a powerful gene editing tool in bridging this gap by allowing researchers to directly target candidate genes in ovarian and metabolic pathways. For instance, experimental models have highlighted the role of CYP17A1 and DENND1A.V2 in androgen excess, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in follicular arrest, and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) and PPARγ in insulin signaling and adipogenesis. To highlight the multifactorial nature of PCOS, animal models, including zebrafish and rodents, have been used to reveal interactions between reproductive and metabolic phenotypes. Nevertheless, most studies remain restricted to single-gene models, and dual-gene models or combined gene editing and hormonal induction models remain underexplored. Future research integrating precision editing, multi-omic platforms, and patient-derived organoids may provide more accurate disease models and novel therapeutic strategies.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome↗
PubMed2026

Advances in CRISPR multiplex gene editing to map and modify stress-responsive transcription factor networks for crop improvement.

The development of CRISPR multiplex genome-editing (MGE) tools is rapidly transforming plant functional genomics and accelerating crop improvements. By simultaneously targeting two or more DNA loci, it allows scientists to precisely edit multiple genes at the single-nucleotide level, within the target genome. Simultaneous manipulation of multiple targets has revolutionized the functional elucidation studies, particularly the dissection of complex genetic pathways. Due to its superior precision and feasibility, CRISPR-MGE is widely accepted and has largely replaced alternative editing tools such as TALENs and ZFNs. Several CRISPR-MGE strategies, including the use of individual expression cassettes, tRNA-processing enzymes, Csy4 or ribozymes, have been successfully deployed in plants. Recent advancements, such as Cpf1, transgene-free methods, or ultra-multiplexing approaches, have further refined the technology into a powerful, efficient, and robust toolkit. MGE enables complex genome editing, including multiple-gene knockouts, base alterations, transcriptional regulation, metabolic engineering, or their combinations. Consequently, it is ideal for elucidating the function of transcription factors that are key molecular players in regulating diverse plant responses, especially in stress pathways. Several stress-responsive TFs have been functionally characterized via CRISPR-MGE, and more advanced tools are being employed. This review evaluates multiplexing tools, their diverse applications, and the current progress toward developing advanced MGE tools. Ultimately, we provide evidence to encourage the use of advanced MGE tools for functional characterization studies of stress-responsive TFs, thereby highlighting their potential to accelerate crop improvement.

Gene Editing↗
PubMed2026

Simulation of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing for the Vitellogenin gene in Apis mellifera.

CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing provides a powerful framework for interrogating gene function in Apis mellifera. Yet, empirical application remains challenging due to biological constraints, including haplodiploid genetics, narrow embryonic injection window, and the social rearing requirements that complicate functional validation. These constraints necessitate in silico pre-screening to maximize editing success before resource-intensive wet-lab implementation. Within the omnigenic framework, which distinguishes core regulatory genes from peripheral loci buffered by network effects, vitellogenin (Vg) represents an optimal target which is ancestrally dedicated to yolk provisioning; it has been co-opted to orchestrate diverse non-reproductive functions including longevity, stress resistance, immunity, and social behavior. We developed a computational pipeline to design a list of 57 and 56 candidate guide RNAs (gRNA) for targeted Vg knockout, evaluating candidate sites in both functional exons 2 and 3 based on structural accessibility and frameshift efficiency. Comparative analysis revealed complementary strengths in two top-best candidates from initial target pool of predicted gRNAs. The gRNA targeting exon 2 exhibits weaker secondary structure (ΔG = -0.25 kcal/mol versus -2.10 kcal/mol for exon 3), aligning with empirical evidence that sites with ΔG > -1.0 kcal/mol achieve 2-5 × higher Cas9 binding efficiency. This site yielded moderate frameshift frequency (77.8%; 61.9 percentile). Conversely, the predicted editing outcome for the gRNA targeting exon 3, despite stronger structural constraints, demonstrated superior functional disruption metrics demonstrating very high frameshift frequency (88.3%; 95.2 percentile), high in silico editing precision, minimal microhomology-mediated repair bias, and reproducible outcomes wherein nearly all predicted indels disrupt the coding sequence. Protein structure and domain analyses further predict that frameshift edits will generate a truncated protein missing all downstream functional domains. We recommend parallel empirical validation of both exon 2 and exon 3 targets to resolve the trade-off between structural accessibility (favoring higher editing rates) and frameshift efficacy (favoring complete loss-of-function). This dual-target strategy accommodates uncertainty in in vivo performance while maximizing the probability of generating informative phenotypes. Our in silico framework enables rational CRISPR design in non-model organisms by computationally balancing biophysical accessibility with functional impact, accelerating functional genomics in species where empirical optimization faces substantial biological constraints.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Optimized TadA-derived base editors efficiently manipulate mRNA splicing by A-to-G and C-to-K editing in potato.

Pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing is a critical mechanism for post-transcriptional regulation in plants. Through alternative splicing, plants produce diverse transcriptomes and proteomes that finely regulate development as well as responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, modulating the generation of specific splicing isoforms for functional characterization remains challenging, particularly in the non-model crop potato. Here, we show that two optimized TadA-derived base editors efficiently induce diverse mRNA splice variants by targeting specific splice sites. By evaluating multiple adenosine deaminases and performing multi-dimensional optimization, we developed an efficient adenine base editor RTF-ABE8e for potato. RTF-ABE8e achieved 100% editing efficiency at two StDL1 target sites in stable transgenic potato, with homozygous editing frequencies as high as 93.3% and 91.1%, respectively. We also developed RTF-TadDE, a dual-base editor based on a TadA-derived dual deaminase, for A-to-G and C-to-K (K = T/G) mutations in potato with an overall editing efficiency comparable to that of RTF-ABE8e. By targeting different splice sites with these base editors, we obtained diverse splicing isoforms carrying premature termination codons (PTCs) at StDL1 and StPDS and robust mutant phenotypes. These base editors enable efficient and precise editing of splice sites to trigger missplicing, making them powerful tools for manipulating splicing in plants.

Solanum tuberosum↗