Irish Times readers have voted for advances in gene editing as their innovation of the decade in an online poll. The ability to alter how genes work is expected to lead to multiple ways of tackling diseases in the future, along with the ability to develop new variants of crops. The scientific innovation won out with 33.8 per cent of the vote against smarter phones, which secured 22.5 per cent. Now scientists have figured out how to precisely target edits in the “letters” of DNA in a cell with a system called Crispr-Cas9. Used responsibly though, Crispr-Cas9 is enabling a deeper understanding of how genes work and could revolutionise healthcare and agriculture.

Source: The Irish Times November 05, 2019 21:56 UTC