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CRISPR toolbox gets two new molecular gadgets, boosting gene-editing

Advances announced Wednesday solve two of the problems hobbling CRISPR, the revolutionary genome-editing technique, scientists said.

The acronyms might not be quite as catchy as CRISPR — since, really, what is? — but what new genetic tools dubbed REPAIR and ABE lack in whimsy they promise to make up in utility. These advances announced Wednesday solve two of the problems hobbling CRISPR, the revolutionary genome-editing technique: that its idea of “editing” is often like 1,000 monkeys editing a Word document, and that making permanent changes to DNA might not be the best approach.

Together, the discoveries, described in separate studies, show that five years after scientists  that CRISPR can edit DNA, bioengineers are still racing to develop the most efficient, precise, versatile — and therefore lucrative

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