Researchers first to use CRISPR/Cas9 to control genetic inheritance in mice

Biologists at the University of California San Diego have developed the world's first CRISPR/Cas9-based approach to control genetic inheritance in a mammal. Scientists around the world have been using CRISPR/Cas9 in a variety of plant and animal species to edit genetic information. One approach to editing the genome can control which of the two copies of a gene is passed to the next generation. While such "active genetics" approaches have been developed in recent years in insects, creating such tools in mammals is more challenging, and testing them takes much longer due to the longer time between generations.
Publishing their work January 23 in the journal Nature, a joint team of UC San Diego researchers developed a new active genetic technology in mice. The achievement of UC San Diego graduate student Hannah Grunwald, Assistant Researcher Valentino Gantz, and colleagues led by Assistant Professor Kimberly Cooper, lays the groundwork for further advances based on this technology, including biomedical research on human disease. "Our motivation was to develop this as a tool for laboratory researchers to control the inheritance of multiple genes in mice," said Cooper. "With further development, we think it will be possible to make animal models of complex human genetic diseases, like arthritis and cancer, that are not currently possible."