基因编辑的“前世今生”

Gene editing:past and present

基因编辑技术能够精准修改或修饰动植物、微生物和人的基因组,为作物定向育种、人类遗传疾病的精准治疗等带来了革命性的机遇,被誉为21世纪最伟大的生物发现之一。基因编辑技术主要包括4种:归巢核酸内切酶(meganuclease)、锌指核酸酶(zinc finger nucleases,ZFNs)、类转录激活因子效应物核酸酶(transcription activator-like effector nucleases,TALENs)、CRISPR-Cas9。其中,CRISPR-Cas9基因编辑技术,因其“更快、更准、更简单”成为当今主流的基因编辑技术,并获得了2020年度诺贝尔化学奖。本文系统阐述了基因编辑的发展演进历程、技术原理和应用,针对存在的问题与面临的挑战进行了展望。

Gene editing technology can precisely modify the genomes of animals,plants,microorganisms,and humans,bringing revolutionary opportunities for targeted crop breeding and precise treatment of human genetic diseases.It is hailed as one of the greatest biological discoveries of the 21st century.Gene editing technologies mainly include four types:meganuclease,zinc finger nucleases(ZFNs),transcription activator-like effector nucleases(TALENs),clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR associated protein 9(CRISPR-Cas9).Among them,CRISPR-Cas9 has become the mainstream gene editing technology for its“faster,more accurate,and simpler”,and won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.In this review,we systematically summarized the development process,technical principles,applications,and challenges faced by gene editing.