Read, write, edit

Genome + Cells

Sequencing, gene editing, gene therapy, epigenetics, cell therapies — and what genomic data can and cannot tell us.

Abstract editorial illustration of three parallel strands—one receiving a new segment, one being precisely snipped, one being dimmed—representing gene therapy, gene editing and RNA medicines.
Genome + CellsEvidence: Approved
Featured story

Gene Editing, Gene Therapy, and RNA Medicines: Three Different Ways to Change an Outcome

The FDA's approval of Casgevy, the first CRISPR-based medicine, is a vantage point on three distinct strategies for rewriting biology—and the hard problems still ahead.

The Spin
01On 8 December 2023 the FDA approved Casgevy, the first CRISPR/Cas9-based therapy, for sickle cell disease in patients 12 and older, alongside…
02In the FDA's summary, 29 of 31 evaluable Casgevy patients went at least 12 consecutive months without severe vaso-occlusive crises during 24…
03Long-term durability and safety, the burden of chemotherapy conditioning, access and cost, and whether individual cases like the 2025 personalised base-editing treatment…

Latest in Genome + Cells

Abstract editorial illustration of a DNA double helix unspooling into lines of glowing letters, some highlighted and some faded to suggest known and unknown meaning.Genome + Cells
Mixed / overview

Decode the Genome: What Sequencing Can Tell Us—and What It Cannot

From the $3 billion Human Genome Project to routine sequencing, reading DNA has become easy. Here is what a genome can reveal today, and where uncertain variants, risk scores and missing context set hard limits.

Explainer5 min read
Interactive · Genome + Cells

Inside the genome

Tap any letter. Codons are read three bases at a time.

Every letter is a choice point. Tap a base in this made-up sequence to see how a single change can be silent, change one amino acid, or stop the protein — then try the full simulation.

  • Most variants are harmless — and many are classified “uncertain”.
  • A variant rarely gives a simple yes-or-no prediction.
  • The sequence here is fictional and for learning only.

From The Lab

Enter The Lab
Curated · attributed · embed-permitted

Watch and learn

Video library
Science communicator

How CRISPR lets us edit our DNA | Jennifer Doudna

CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna describes how a bacterial immune system became a programmable tool for editing DNA. She also raises the ethical questions that…

Video · TED
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  • Five stories that mattered, each with its own Spin
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  • One Lab question to think about

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