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New results ease previous concerns that gene-editing
techniques—used to develop therapies for genetic diseases—could add unwanted
mutations to stem cells.
The ability to switch out one gene for another in a line of
living stem cells has only crossed from science fiction to reality within this
decade. As with any new technology, it brings with it both promise—the hope of
fixing disease-causing genes in humans, for example—as well as questions and
safety concerns. Now, Salk scientists have put one of those concerns to rest:
using gene-editing techniques on stem cells doesn't increase the overall
occurrence of mutations in the cells.