"UCSB Researchers Discover Breakthrough in CRISPR Efficiency for Cancer Modeling"
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a method to increase the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 editing without using viral material to deliver the genetic template used to edit the target genetic sequence. The method stimulates homology-directed repair by approximately threefold without increasing mutation frequencies or altering end-joining repair outcomes. The researchers found that introducing interstrand crosslinks into the workflow increased homology-directed repair dramatically. This method will find the most use in ex-vivo gene editing applications, according to the team, that is, in the realm of disease research and preclinical work.