As CRISPR horizons cloud, a startup focuses on the next big thing with powerhouse potential — the RNA editing platform
Over the last few years, as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tech became the AK47 of academic labs — a handy, powerful weapon that could be pointed at multiple targets — there has been a growing chorus of skeptics pointing to what they see as severe limitations to the technology. And gradually, some of the leaders in the field began to move to refinements aimed at whisking away the fretful doubts that had begun to nag at the pioneers.
But while superstar scientists like Feng Zhang were working on CRISPR 2.0, a small band of scientists has been hatching their own plans around creating a whole new branch of the disease editing field — RNA editing. And the second startup in 3 months is now popping up to take its place in what it hopes will be a vanguard platform tech that can go places in vivo where CRISPR may be off limits.
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