Breakthrough Technology Name 'CRISPR' Has Power to Stop Malaria

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Gene-editing technology called CRISPR topped this year's Breakthrough of the Year list compiled by Science magazine.

Although the technique has been around for a few years, in 2015 researchers made CRISPR easier, faster and cheaper to use, heralding an era that holds great promise for fixing damaged genes or eliminating pests that carry disease. In a Science magazine podcast, Science deputy news editor Robert Coontz reported on several experiments using CRISPR, including its potential to alter genes in mosquitoes to stop malaria.

"So you can change not just one organism at a time, but through its offspring you can make the changes spread to future generations and, eventually, if you do things just right, you can arrange things so that they will dominate the whole population," he said. "Or, in another malaria mosquito work, they made all the females infertile."

CRISPR may also be deployed to repair or replace mutated genes that cause disease, help save endangered species, or even bioengineer trees to ferment into biofuels.