New DNA-editing mechanism discovered in bacteria may outshine CRISPR

A unique bacterial molecule might allow scientists to redesign genomes, enabling them to insert, delete, or flip large DNA segments. This technique, detailed in three recent papers in Nature and Nature Communications, uses jumping genes, which naturally insert themselves into genomes. According to Sandro Fernandes Ataide, a structural biologist at the University of Sydney in Australia and an author on the Nature Communications paper, “if this works in other cells, it will be game-changing. It’s opening a new field in …