Novel gene editor to correct disease-causing mutations

Singapore, March 14 : A team of researchers has developed a CRISPR-based gene editor, C-to-G Base Editor (CGBE), to correct mutations that cause genetic disorders.
One in seventeen people in the world suffers from some type of genetic disorder.
“The CGBE gene editor is a ground-breaking invention that for the first time, directly converts C to G in genes, which potentially opens up treatment avenues for a substantial fraction of genetic disorders associated with single-nucleotide mutations,” said author Chew Wei Leong, Senior Research Scientist at Genome Institute of Singapore.
The most common mutation by far is the single-based substitution, in which a single-base in the DNA (such as G) is replaced by another base (such as C) according to the study, published in Nature Communications.
Countless cystic fibrosis patients worldwide have C instead of G, leading to defective proteins that cause the genetic disease. In another case, replacing A with T in haemoglobin causes sickle cell anaemia.
To fix these substitutions, the team invented a CRISPR-based gene editor that precisely changes the defective C within the genome to the desired G.