Beyond CRISPR Hype
Gene editing has promised to revolutionize medicine, but only now are the next-generation tools base editing and prime editing moving from petri dishes to patients. CRISPR’s first wave – classic CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases – yielded headline-grabbing cures (like sickle cell and beta-thalassemia therapies approved in 2023). Yet those approaches make double-strand DNA breaks, raising safety and delivery challenges. Base and prime editors offer a gentler fix: they rewrite DNA one letter at a time or perform small insertions, without blunt cuts. After years of hype, these precision editors are entering clinical trials en masse. The big question: which of these experimental cures will actually reach patients by,
