Published: 2:03am, 11 Mar, 2019 Updated: 3:22am, 11 Mar, 2019
Scientists in China are racing to develop a mutation-free gene editing process which could be used to treat a range of diseases. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences aim to launch clinical trials using the method within the next two years, with the technique offering unprecedented levels of patient safety. The team is working on developing an approach that would allow scientists to edit genes without causing any damage or introducing unintended mutations. By contrast, the new technique involves precisely swapping individual DNA "letters", significantly reducing the risk of unexpected mutations.