What is Single-base Editing?

"Everyone is a writer" program aims to promote the sharing of knowledge and learning together. There are some answers about the single-base editing from this campaign.

Q: What is Single-base Editing?

A: Anh Nguyen: Single base editing is a genetic editing technique. It largely differs from the CRISPR technique in that it is much more precise in how it operates. Using CRISPR, one inserts a new piece of DNA into the target's genome. The insertion is usually large and randomly applied (meaning that it can sometimes disrupt useful genes). Single-base editing transforms one base pair to another. This allows a lot more precision as the edit has a little more direction towards its target. Learn More

Lily Honsman: Single-base editing is a gene editing technique established by researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. It rewrites individual errors in single base-pairs of the genetic code instead of cutting and replacing whole chunks of DNA. It is intended to fix point mutations involved in human disease. Learn More

Manini Penikalapati: Single-base editing is a new gene-editing technique that converts one base into another. Old techniques have only been able to take advantage of complementary base pairing and change a G-C pair into an A-T pair, but this new method changes adenine into inosine, which reads as guanine. So, the cell identifies this as a mistake and slots in a cytosine where the thymine was. This A-T to G-C base edit could reverse mutations from G-C to A-T and treat hereditary hemochromatosis as well as sickle-cell anemia. Learn More

Lauren Escobed: Single-base editing is a method of correcting individual errors within a single base pair of a genetic code instead of cutting and replacing a whole sequence of DNA. The base editing technique involves converting one DNA base into another. It can change an A-T base pair to a G-C pair. During this transition, the cell is tricked into fixing the complementary base in the strand to check that it is correct. This ensures that the single base editing has successful and correctly changed the error. Learn More

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