CRISPR’s hedgehog problem: Rolled-up genes can’t be edited, study finds
The same strategy that some animals use to avoid being attacked — roll into a ball — turns out to let genes avoid being sliced up by the genome-editing molecules…
Sowbugs, armadillos, hedgehogs … and DNA? The same strategy that some animals use to avoid being attacked — roll into a ball and keep your vulnerable bits beyond predators’ reach — turns out to let genes avoid being sliced up by the genome-editing molecules of CRISPR, scientists reported on Monday. When a segment of DNA wraps itself around a protein into what’s called a nucleosome, CRISPR-Cas9 can no more cut it than a hungry hawk can bite a rolled-up hedgehog.
If CRISPR “can’t
