Somatic Gene Cell Editing

Somatic cell gene editing modifies a subjects DNA in order to try and treat a disease caused by a genetic mutation in a specific type of cell. Only the targeted cell type will be affected through somatic gene editing. One way to perform this is the use of CRISPR techniques on blood stem cells to try and fix the genetic mutation. This will change the subject’s blood cells, but will not have any impact on their sperm or eggs. This means that the edited gene will not be passed down to future generations.