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GENOME EDITING

CRISPR–Cas9 can cause chromothripsis

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Genome editing with CRISPR–Cas9 is beginning to be used clinically; promising results to date inspire hope for broad medical impact and mindfulness about safety. A new study shows that when Cas9 cuts its target, a fraction of the time, the target chromosome experiences a breakage process known as chromothripsis, thus prompting efforts to understand the potential negative consequences of this phenomenon and ways to mitigate them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, USA

    Fyodor D. Urnov

  2. Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Fyodor D. Urnov

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  1. Fyodor D. Urnov
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Correspondence to Fyodor D. Urnov.

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Competing interests

F.U. is a scientific co-founder of Tune Therapeutics.

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Urnov, F.D. CRISPR–Cas9 can cause chromothripsis. Nat Genet 53, 768–769 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00881-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00881-4

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