ABSTRACT
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based genome editing is a revolutionary technology that allows for precise and efficient manipulation of DNA sequences. Perhaps the most valuable use of genome editing will be in furthering our understanding of early human development, and the first licence was given to Niakan et al. to apply CRISPR/Cas9 to human embryos to interrogate the role of OCT4 in human embryo development. As such, in a bid to advance safe and effective electroporation-mediated genome editing protocols for humans, efforts are perhaps better focused on larger mammalian embryos. Base editing is a novel CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing technology that allows the introduction of point mutations in the DNA without generating DSBs. Base editing is a type of genome editing that allows for precise changes to a single base in the genome without making a double-stranded break (DSB) in the DNA.
