A better, faster way to deliver CRISPR, if it works

CRISPR is very good at editing DNA; it’s not terribly precise when it comes to hitting one organ versus another.

And so one group of researchers has an idea: Just as a magnetic wand can put metallic hair on the face of Wooly Willy, could magnetic nanoparticles do the same for genome editing?

As STAT’s Sharon Begley reports, the answer appears to be yes, in mice. Scientists at Rice University took a standard CRISPR cocktail and added in some iron oxide nanoparticles. They injected it into mice and flopped them onto some magnets, and the result was a better, faster CRISPR’ing that focused on the liver and spared the heart, lung, kidney, and other vital organs.

Researchers around the country are now kicking the tires on nanoparticle-based delivery technologies that could one day ferry CRISPR molecules with precision.

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