ASU Researchers Optimize RNA Editing with CREST

Scientists have developed a new gene editing tool called CREST that can be used to edit RNA molecules. RNA is a molecule that carries copied excerpts of DNA to protein-making factories called ribosomes. RNA determines which proteins are expressed and ultimately how cells function.

Current RNA editing techniques are limited to making only one type of edit at a time. This can be limiting because many diseases involve complex malfunctions of multiple RNA molecules. CREST can make multiple edits at the same time, which could be used to treat diseases like cancer.

CREST also reduces off-target changes, which are unintended changes that can occur when editing RNA. This makes CREST a more precise and safer tool than current RNA editing techniques.

In the future, scientists hope to create new functional modules for CREST so that RNA can be tuned in different ways. This could lead to new treatments for diseases and new ways to understand how cells function.

Read the news release from Arizona State University.