Genome Editing Technologies and Application in Medicine: Discoveries, Challenges, and Prospects

 A multitude of devastating human diseases arise from genetic mutations that lead to cellular dysfunction, as well as from infectious diseases and cell transformation. These diseases have significantly impacted individuals and communities worldwide and led to challenges in medical and biological sciences to address their causes and improve treatment approaches. Since identifying genes as the main heredity unit, generating targeted alterations in specific gene loci for treatment and perception of disease function has been a crucial concern. The discovery of nuclease enzymes revolutionized this field and transformed the concept of genome editing from a dream to a tangible reality.
Currently, targeted gene editing and modification through techniques such as zinc finger nuclease (ZFN), transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), and clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat Cas-associated nuclease (CRISPR/Cas) offers robust methods to assess gene function, also precisely and efficiently manipulate cells behavior.
ZFN and the TALEN were the earliest gene editing approaches that developed, which rely on the FokI enzyme and engineered protein that binds to a specific sequence in the genome and induces double-strand breakage, stimulating the cell's repair mechanisms. Although these techniques led to many significant discoveries and developments in gene editing, they had limitations such as complexity and high prices.
The emergence of CRISPR/Cas technology propelled gene editing to a new stage of efficiency and accessibility. This technique utilizes RNA to guide the Cas enzyme to the target gene sequence and, like the ZFN and TALEN, creates a double-strand breakage, which triggers DNA repair mechanisms. CRISPR/Cas is a versatile, simple, and cost-effective revolutionary gene-manipulating tool that enabled researchers to explore the potential of gene editing in a wide application range.
Base and Prime editors are the latest systems in the genome manipulation area, which, based on the CRISPR/Cas technique, represent the impressive development and improvement in gene editing capabilities. Despite the others, these two technologies induce the single-strand breakage and modify at the nucleotide level in target sequences.
The ability to edit genes indicates new possibilities for treating genetic diseases and even preventing them before they appear. Nowadays, a growing number of clinical trials utilizing genome editing for therapeutic purposes are underway, thanks to the substantial advancements in these tools. These remarkable improvements hold promise in treating various diseases and improving patient’s outcomes.
However, despite the outstanding progress made in gene editing technology, there are still several challenges and obstacles, such as ethical considerations, off-target effects, and safety concerns, which still need more investigation and studies. Consequently, ongoing researches are focused on developing the accuracy and efficacy of these editing tools.

 The advancement of gene editing technology has opened up a new way in medical and biological sciences to modify and manipulate the genome, also exploring the various diseases caused.