"Unlocking Safe Gene Therapy: Birds' Junk DNA Inspires Precise Transgene Insertion"

A new RNA-based system called PRINT can precisely insert transgenes into the human genome at a safe-harbor locus, offering potential for gene therapy with reduced immune responses and lower risk of random genome insertions. The approach utilizes RNAs encoding an avian R2 retroelement and a transgene, showing high efficiency and low error rates in cultured human cells. While promising, further research is needed to address knowledge gaps and optimize the approach for potential gene therapy applications.