The cutting edge of gene editing

Imagine a world where there is no cystic fibrosis, HIV or malaria; where crops are drought-resistant and parents no longer have to worry that their children may inherit a nasty disease. It might seem far-fetched – utopian even – but this is a potential reality thanks to a gene-editing technique that was discovered just three years ago. The technique, known as Crispr (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), is an advance on previous gene-editing techniques. In principle, it is more precise, faster, easier and cheaper, with the ability to delete, repair or replace genes.