This New Gene-Editing Tool Can ‘Search-and-Replace’ Genes Without Breaking DNA

Snip, snip. If you’ve been paying attention to the hubbub about gene editing, the first image that pops into your head might be of a pair of scissors. Today, when scientists use the popular gene-editing tool CRISPR, they’re essentially slicing through both strands of the iconic double helix with molecular shears before splicing in a new gene and allowing the cell to recover.