"Revolutionizing Disease Research: Mouse Genome Rewriting Unlocks New Disease Models"

Scientists have developed a novel mammalian genome writing method called mSwAP-In, which allows for large-scale, scarless, and iterative genome writing in mouse embryonic stem cells. Using this method, they successfully engineered a synthetic version of the Trp53 gene and fully humanized the ACE2 gene in mouse models. The humanized ACE2 mice were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and exhibited a more accurate representation of COVID-19 pathology compared to existing transgenic models. This genome writing technique has the potential to bridge human-mouse evolutionary gaps and improve our understanding of human diseases.