Method of the year: slicing and dicing with gene-editing nucleases

Gene-editing nucleases can make targeted and precise changes to an organism’s genome. This has opened up new possibilities for the study of gene function, as well as the treatment of disease. While gene-editing nucleases have been in use since the mid-1990s, in the form of zinc finger nucleases, the more recent discovery of TALENs (transcriptor-like effector nucleases) has created new interest. In the video above, Nature Methods technology editor Monya Baker explains how gene-editing nucleases work and why they were chosen as Nature Methods ‘Method of the Year’ for 2011. For more on the ‘Method of the Year’ visit the  … Read more