CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The origin of genome editing technology began with the introduction of zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs). Zinc finger nucleases are artificially engineered restriction enzymes for custom site-specific genome editing. Zinc fingers themselves are transcription factors, where each finger recognizes 3–4 bases.

Detailed explanation-2: -Here, we review recent advances of the three major genome editing technologies (ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9) and discuss the applications of their derivative reagents as gene editing tools in various human diseases and potential future therapies, focusing on eukaryotic cells and animal models.

Detailed explanation-3: -The first such system to be developed for use in genome editing of human cells, known as CRISPR/Cas9, is based on RNA-guided targeting and is much simpler, faster, and cheaper than earlier methods.