Powerful new DNA-editing method

In the late 1980s, scientists at Osaka University in Japan noticed unusual repeated DNA sequences next to a gene they were studying in a common bacterium. They mentioned them in the final paragraph of a paper: “The biological significance of these sequences is not known.”

Now their significance is known, and it has set off a scientific frenzy.

The sequences, it turns out, are part of a sophisticated immune system that bacteria use to fight viruses. And that system, whose very existence was unknown until about seven years ago, may provide scientists with unprecedented power to rewrite the code of life.

Related on the SLP

Advances in genetic research enhancing our understanding of human evolution Heard of CRISPR gene editing? It can save your life

Viewpoint: Died “with measles” vs. died “from measles”: RFK, Jr.’s dangerously subversive word games

Vaccine hesitancy, like malaria, surges globally, topping 35% in some countries

Blood tests for Alzheimer’s? The latest grifter, social media scam.

Read the full, original story: A Powerful New Way to Edit DNA