TO DATE, for the most part, researchers could modify only one gene at a time using the CRISPR method. On occasion, they managed two or three in one go; in one particular case, they were able to edit seven genes simultaneously. Now, Professor Randall Platt and his team at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel have developed a process that can modify 25 target sites within genes in a cell at once. If that were not enough, this number can be increased still further, to dozens or even hundreds of genes. At any rate, the method offers enormous potential for biomedical research and biotechnology
