CRISPR DNA editing may cause serious genetic damage, researchers warn
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/16/crispr-dna-editing-may-cause-serious-genetic-damage-researchers-warn/
CRISPR-Cas9, the gene editing tool that is currently the darling of biotech and many other fields, may not be quite as miraculous as early tests suggested. A new study finds that what scientists thought of as a scalpel may be more like a felling axe, causing damage hundreds of times what was previously observed.
Before anyone panics and checks out the window for mutated monstrosities, it should be said right away that this isn’t a nightmare scenario by any means: the tool can still be used in many ways safely, and the clinical repercussions of the damage are unexplored. But this unexpected limitation of a tool so widely applied will almost certainly but a chill on its use.