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Efficient and precise programmable DNA knock-in without double-strand breaks

Research Genome Editing

Merged summary

TL;DR - Kilobase-scale nickase-targeting (KNIT) editing inserts large DNA fragments using a single-strand nick rather than double-strand breaks. It could enable safer, programmable genome engineering across diverse loci and cell types.

  • Supports insertion of DNA fragments larger than 10 kb.
  • Demonstrated across multiple genomic loci and cell types.
  • Achieves high insertion efficiency with minimal unwanted off-target effects.
  • Avoids the double-strand breaks used by many conventional editing methods.

Sources (1)

Efficient and precise programmable DNA knock-in without double-strand breaks

Nature Yanmin Gao, Yu Ma, Kexin Yu, Yintian Liu, Buming Gu, Hao Tang, Wenjie Yan, Shuangshuang Yang, Jingran Su, Xindong Wang, Xin Ma, Xinming Wang, Fang Wang, Qingyang Li, Mengying Liu, Haifeng Wang 2026-07-22 doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10819-7

TL;DR - Kilobase-scale nickase-targeting (KNIT) editing inserts large DNA fragments using a single-strand nick rather than double-strand breaks. It could enable safer, programmable genome engineering across diverse loci and cell types.

  • Supports insertion of DNA fragments larger than 10 kb.
  • Demonstrated across multiple genomic loci and cell types.
  • Achieves high insertion efficiency with minimal unwanted off-target effects.
  • Avoids the double-strand breaks used by many conventional editing methods.
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