Genome editing is an innovative molecular tool for the efficient and permanent alteration of genetic information in cells. Therapeutic application of genome editing is growing fast in the light of the clinical and industrial success of gene therapies ...
Genome editing is an innovative molecular tool for the efficient and permanent alteration of genetic information in cells. Therapeutic application of genome editing is growing fast in the light of the clinical and industrial success of gene therapies and is expected to provide hope to the patients suffering from rare genetic and intractable diseases. The current study aims to survey the status of genome editing technology, non-clinical and clinical studies of therapeutic genome editing. The publication of research papers on genome editing technology, especially involving CRISPR/Cas9 is growing fast annually. In other hands, the clinical trials of gene therapies based on genome editing are relatively slowly launched reflecting the gap between the science and translation. The US is leading the clinical trials involving genome editing, but China is also an important player, likely in line with the growths of clinical trials of gene-added immune cell therapies. In terms of therapeutic approaches, ex vivo applications of genome editing are in the clinic much more than in vivo applications. It is likely because in vivo applications of genome editing involves more uncertainties of efficacy and safety. The study also describes the techniques involved in the study of specificity and immunogenicity of genome editing tools, which is a new aspect of non-clinical validation compared to other gene therapies. The comprehensive survey of publically available non-clinical data for representative genome editing therapy programs shows that trends of study design for the validation of efficacy and safety. This study provides the information for the current status of genome editing as a therapeutic tool and the ground for the discussion on the regulatory framework required for the genome editing technology.